Class Act
by jonaslovers1421
Summary: Will East High be able to handle two schools in one? That's right, find out what happens when West High joins with East High. How and why does Gabriella know a guy from that school? Will this interfere with the perfect Troyella love story! Troyella!
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello everyone! Here starts the story I promised!!! I'm just gonna get it started! Hope you like! Please review! AND it's very important to see what day it is so I'm going to put it boldly every time the day changes. Oh yeah, by the way HSM 2 hasn't happened. I'm really sorry but for this story to work it couldn't have.**_

**Chapter 1**

**SATURDAY, MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT**

"911 what's your emergency?"

"The school...the schools on f-fire!"

"Ma'am you need to calm down and tell me what school and an address," the 911 official replied calmly.

"It- its 815...Patterson Street West Albuquerque! Please hurry! West High its its...STAY AWAY FROM THERE!" she screamed at someone on her end.

"The firemen are on their way ma'am, they'll take care of everything."

"Thank you!" the woman called into the phone.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV  
SUNDAY  
**

"How was your day yesterday?" my mom asked as I sat down in the kitchen, "I didn't talk to you all day."

"Good!" I replied, "Tay, Kels, and I bought a lot at the mall."

"What's your excuse this time?" mom asked, "It's no ones birthday, it's not Christmas, there's no party..."

"School shopping of course!" I laughed.

"How could I forget?" my mom rolled her eyes smiling.

"How was your day yesterday?" I asked.

"Not good," my mom answered, "Going to work on Saturday never is good, especially with a boss like mine. I can't handle him sometimes!"  
"Mom we _can't_ move again!" I exclaimed, "We've been so many places! And I love it here!"

"We haven't been to that many places," my mom denied.

"Are you serious mom?" I asked, "I haven't even started my senior year of high school and I've been to three high schools!"

"Has it really been three?" my mom questioned sitting down across from me with a salad.

"It was West High for 9th and 10th grade, Sun High for the first half of 11th grade, and East High for the second. Half of 11th grade," I answered, "So yeah three."  
"Don't worry honey. We're not moving," my mom assured me.

"Thanks mom."

"Well anyway," mom said, "We didn't have any lunch today. Do you want me to make you something?"

"No thanks mom. Troy and I are going out tonight," I replied smiling.

"You guys are so cute together," my mom gushed.

"Mom please," I said, "We're _not_ dating."

"I know, I know!"

"Well I'm gonna go call Troy," I told her, "He should be on his way."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

"And here we are!" Troy said pulling into a parking lot, "La Cappella!"

"It only took us three hours to get here!" I exclaimed.

"Shut up Montez," Troy said as we reached the door and he opened it for me, "It took like 45 minutes! And it will be worth it!"

I grinned and Troy led me to the greeter.

"I have a reservation for two under Bolton," he told the lady."

"Right this way," she smiled.

She led us through a large restaurant and to the back. Right in front of our table was a small stage covered in speakers and live entertainment. A teenage girl was singing an unrecognizable karaoke song. The lighting was dim but candles were lit and sitting on tables.

"Here's you seat and someone will be right with you," she told happily.

"Thanks," I smiled.

Troy pulled my chair out for me and then walked to his side of the table. I immediately picked up my menu.

Five minutes later I had ordered lasagna and garlic bread and Troy had ordered spaghetti and meatballs.

"Can you believe school starts tomorrow?" I asked sipping my Mountain Dew.

"No!" Troy replied, "Summer went so fast!"

"But we had a lot of fun," I pointed out.

"When? Like the time you landed on me when we were racing, or when Taylor's hair was in my face on all the roller coasters? Or the time Chad hit me in the head with a basketball, and how about the time Jason dropped a bowling ball on my foot? That was fun!" Troy reminisced dramatically.

I was laughing just thinking about it.

"And how about when Kelsi dropped all of the hot dogs on you at out bonfire!?!" I managed to say through my laughing.

"Yeah," Troy grinned, "That ended in a ketchup and mustard fight!"

"At least we'll get to see the gang everyday in school," I pointed out.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Homeroom with Darbus!"  
I laughed again, "She's not that bad!"

Troy looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"Ok," I gave in, "She's a little old fashioned."

"Gabs!" Troy exclaimed, "She's in love with an old musician or something! The only thing she hangs out with is a picture of Beethoven or Mozart or something!"

"It's Shakespeare!" I laughed even harder at Troy and that caused him to laugh.

We calmed down when we saw the waitress approaching. She set out food down and took my drink for a refill.

"This is delicious!" I stated, "I've never been here before."

"I've been here once or twice," Troy told me, "Only on special occasions."

"What's special about today?" I asked.

"How often do you and I go somewhere alone and just hang out?" he asked.

"At least once a week."

"Shut up!" Troy said because I was right, "You didn't have to come!"

"Troy will you do my a favor?" I changed the subject.

"Sure," he replied, "What's up?"

"Would you do anything for me?" I questioned further.

"Of course I would," Troy looked concerned, "What do you need?"

"Sing for me!"

"What?" he exclaimed.

"There's karaoke right there!" I pointed out, "Go up and sing something!"  
Troy glanced up as an elderly guy picked up the microphone and started to sing.

"I don't know," he said, "It'd be hard to be better than this guy."

"Don't be rude," I demanded, "Just sing."

"What do you want me to sing?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied, "You know my favorite songs, pick one!"

"I don't know Gabriella," he hesitated, "I've had some bad experiences with karaoke."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "You're so mean!"

"No! That's not what I meant!" he promised excitedly, "I wasn't even thinking of Start of Something New! You see this one time..."

"Just make it up to me by singing!" I blackmailed him.

"I hate you," he mumbled getting up.

The older guy finished singing and Troy took the stage. He flipped through the book of songs, told the DJ which on and stepped up to take the microphone. He grabbed it off the stand as the music started to play.

"This song is for my best friend who wouldn't leave me alone until I sang this," Troy said.

I smiled at him and grinned even more when I realized what song it was.

_They say it's a man's world  
Well, that cannot be denied  
But what good's a man's world  
Without a woman by your side  
And so I will wait  
Until that moment you decide _

That I'm your man  
And you're my girl  
That I'm the sea  
And you're the pearl  
It takes two, baby,  
It takes two  


I stared at Troy intently. His amazing voice filled the room as he sang. His eyes met with mine and we didn't look away.

_  
A king ain't a king  
Without the power behind the throne  
A prince is a pauper. Babe,  
Without a chick to call his own  
So please, darling, choose me  
I don't wanna rule alone  
Tell me, _

I'm your king  
And you're my queen  
That no one else  
Can come between  
It takes two, baby,  
It takes two  


No one else was in the whole room. Just Troy and I.

_Don't you know  
Lancelot had Guinevere  
Mrs. Claus has old St. Nick  
Romeo had Juliet  
And Liz, well, she has her Dick _

They say it takes two to tango  
Well, that tango's child's play  
So take me to the dance floor  
And we'll twist the night away  


I noticed how perfect Troy looked up there in his dress pants, green buttoned shirt, and suit jacket. His hair lay near his perfect face and I couldn't look away.

_Just like Frankie Avalon  
Had his favorite Mouseketeer  
I dream of a lover, babe,  
To say the things 1 long to hear  
So come closer baby,  
Oh and whisper in my ear _

That you're my girl  
And I'm your boy  
That you're my pride  
And I'm your joy  
That I'm the sand  
And you're the tide  
I'll be the groom  
If you'll be my bride  
It takes two, baby,  
It takes two 

_It takes two...  
It takes two...  
It takes two, baby  
It takes two_

Troy ended the song perfectly, set down the mic, and jumped off the stage. Thunderous clapping filled the room and I just then remembered we weren't alone. I jumped out of my seat and threw my arms around him.

"Was that good enough?' he asked in my ear.

"Amazing," I smiled, "Thanks so much Troy!"

Troy rubbed his hand on my back as I kissed his cheek. We sat down as the clapping slowed. There were still huge smiled across Troy's and my faces.

"But seriously Troy," I laughed, "That was so great!"

Troy leaned back in his chair casually, ruffling his hair and grinning.

"Nah," he denied, "It was alright."

I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for coming here with me," Troy said abruptly.

"Why wouldn't I ?" I asked, "And thanks for inviting me."

**Author's Note  
Hey! So what'd you think of the first chapter! Let me just emphasize...Gabriella went to WEST high! So anyway thanks for reading and please review! I wanted to get the first chapter out there so I haven't gotten a lot more written yet. I'll try to update ASAP! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 "Feroce torched it..."**

**  
Nick Despotakis's POV**

**SUNDAY  
**

"I still can't believe it," I said bouncing my basketball, "I can't believe it's gone."

"I can't believe we have to go to the piece of crap school!" Mike Rivi replied from the ground where he was sitting. He flicked his head quickly to move his hair out of his bright blue eyes.

"How does something like a high school burning down happen?" Bobby Noble asked.

He was rubbing his hand over his short blonde hair. His eyes were blue also, but a pale blue.

"Feroce torched it," I grinned. Our own inside joke was that everything was Feroce's fault.

"What!?!" Feroce exclaimed dropping the ball he was spinning on his finger, "I was no where near our school!"

Bobby, Rivi, and I continued to laugh.

"Yep!" I exclaimed, "It's your fault!"

Mike Feroce's green eyes rolled behind his square glasses. His hair was also short, but very dark brown and slightly curly.

"The worst part is having to join with East High!" Bobby said.

"Obviously," I agreed, "We have to be in classes with Bolton and the rest of those Wildcat losers."

"Yeah," Rivi said, "And we're not going to have Mr. O'Donnell anymore."  
"He was _not_ that cool of a teacher," Bobby pointed out. " You were the only student that liked him!"

"Shut up Bobby!" Rivi said, "Why don't you go throw another interception!"

We all laughed at another of our ongoing joke.

"Yeah, you call yourself a quarterback," Feroce laughed.

"At least I don't play basketball!" he replied.

"Dude," I said, "There are three basketball players here and you're the only football player. I wouldn't go there."

Everyone smiled.

"Crap!" Rivi jumped up, "I'm supposed to be meeting my older sister!"

"Oooh! Can I come!"

"Shut up Noble!" Rivi laughed, "I'm not hooking up my best friend with my sister!"

We all continued laughing.

"I was being serious," Bobby said defeatedly.

"I gotta go too," Feroce said.

"See ya guys," Rivi added.

"Bye guys!" I called as they started walking away, "Stay away from the fire!"

"Got it!" Feroce called without turning around.

"I'm going home to," I told Bobby, "It is a school night."

We laughed and did out quick best friend handshake.

"See ya at the death school man," he replied.

"See ya."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

I walked into my house and tossed my basketball to the left into the living room. I walked straight, into to my kitchen and chugged a glass of lemonade.

"Is anyone here!" I called setting down the glass.

"Hey Nick!" my brother Terry called from upstairs, "Mom and dad aren't home!"

I jogged up to my room as Terry walked out of the bathroom. He followed me into my room as I dropped onto my bed and leaned against the headboard.

"What's up?" Terry asked leaning in the doorway.

"You're so lucky you graduated already, "I told him, "Since the school burnt down we all have to go to East High!"  
"I heard," Terry said, "That really sucks. I wouldn't go to East High if someone paid me."

"Yeah," I agreed absentmindedly.

"Hey!" Terry called sounded confused, "Are you excited about going there?"

"No!" I exclaimed honestly, "It's just..."

Without realizing it my head turned and I stared at the picture on the night stand. Bobby, Rivi, Feroce, and I were handing are arms on each other. In the middle of us was a beautiful girl. Her brown curly hair hung past hr shoulders. It matched perfectly with her chocolate brown eyes. Her small body was partly crushed between us. A smile slid across my face.

"Oh," I heard Terry say softly, "Her."

My head snapped back towards him.

"Yeah," I said quietly, "Something like that."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

**MONDAY, first day of school**

"Everyone please take your seats!" Mr. Matsui's was on the gym floor with a microphone.

Our whole school was packed onto the bleachers in the gym for a back to school assembly.

"I wonder what they have to say this year," I said as I sat down with Gabriella.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's really exciting," her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Hey man, hey Gabi," Chad and Jason sat down next to Gabriella, "Welcome home Troy."

I laughed as I looked around the gym.

"It's not home til I'm on the court, with a ball, and all these people are here to see us," I replied.

"Chad!" Gabriella exclaimed, "Where's your ball!?!"  
I just then noticed Chad wasn't carrying his usual ball.

"Darbus took it," Chad answered through clenched teeth.

"Don't worry," Jason said, "I already have a plan to get it back."

"Why don't you just use one of your other 500 basketballs?" Gabriella asked logically.

The three of stared at her, shocked.

"Gabriella," I said, "That's Chad's ball. The ball."

"Oh," she said pretending to understand, "How dare I?"

"That's the first ball I ever shot and scored with," Chad started, "The first ball I used in this gym as a Wildcat, Coach Bolton let me use it to try out. This is the first ball Darbus took from me. It's pretty much the Wildcat team ball."

"Alright everyone!" Mr. Matsui said, "We're going to start off with some news. This may come as shock but I know all of you can handle it. As many of you surely heard, West High was brought down in a terrible fire."

A bunch of people cheered loudly. Matsui ignored them.

"This left all the West High students without a school. Therefore, they will be joining us for the first half of the school year or until their school is rebuilt."

The smile that had been lingering on my face was gone. I had surely heard wrong. No way were our enemies the West High losers coming to our school. I looked over at Chad and Jason. They looked outraged. The whole gym had exploded in noise. Everyone was shouting in protest or complaining to friends.

"This can't happen!" Jason exclaimed.

"They're gonna ruin our senior year," Chad pointed out.

"Why couldn't it be any other school?" I asked angrily, "Why West High?"

I looked down at Gabriella. She was the only on in the gym not standing or speaking. She was staring off and her eyes were unfocused.

"Gabs!" I exclaimed, "Did you hear what they said!?!"

"What?" she looked up at me, "Oh...yeah. This is ridiculous."

I shrugged slightly confused and decided she was just in shock.

"Calm down!" Matsui demanded, "Everyone quiet!"

The gym quieted, but didn't calm.

"To tell you the truth," Matsui went on, "I'm not happy about it either. But at least _we_ beat _them_ last year!"

I grinned. I knew the school would separate East and West. And it wouldn't just be the students. The teachers hated that school too. I could already see tons of fights in the halls.

"One more thing before you're dismissed," Matsui finished, "The West High students have just been given their schedules and welcoming, they are not yet in their assigned homerooms. You are now dismissed back to your homerooms."

Noise erupted instantly.

"Are you ok Gabi?" I asked.

"Yeah," she promised, "I just know some people from beating them at Decathlon and stuff. I'm just nervous to see them here."

I smiled at her.

"Don't you worry," I said, "I won't let anyone near you."

She smiled back as Taylor and Kelsi ran over and started complaining with us.

**Author's Note**

**Hey! Sorry it took a while! Please review and tell me what you thought! Thanks to all of you for even reading!!! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 "We'll talk later..."**

**Gabriella's POV **

**MONDAY**

We all started walking towards our homeroom after the assembly. Everyone was calling to each other saying hi and what's up. A bunch of people ran over to Troy and Chad and Jason and everything seemed normal. Everything except the West High students glaring out of every classroom. I was glad when we made it to homeroom. About ten West High students in Darbus' homeroom sat on the far side. My stomach dropped. My eyes had landed on four guys. Two with blonde hair, one with brown, and the other one... Nick Despotakis looked exactly the same. His extremely dark hair was still just as curly. His eyes were so dark, like black holes, but so gorgeous. This all went perfectly with his tan skin. He still wore his glasses, but only to read. He looked up, sensing my penetrating eyes. Our eyes met and I glanced away.

"Gabriella," Nick called softly. I glanced back up at him.

"Gabs!" Troy had just noticed I had stopped at Darbus' desk. He of course didn't know why so he just laughed at me and called: "What are you doing? Come here!"

"Miss Montez would you mind going to the office to get some papers for me?" asked Darbus

"Sure!" I jumped at the opportunity to leave the room. As I stepped out of the room I peered back through the doorway, Nick was staring at me.

"We'll talk later," I mouthed and hurried down the hallway.

My mind instantly started going crazy. How could this be happening? I can't believe he's here! I never thought I'd talk to Nick again!

**Flashback**

"_Hey there Gabi," Nick smiled at me from the swing he was sitting on. We had just decided to meet here and I had just walked into the playground of West Elementary._

"_Hey Nick," I said dully._

"_Is something wrong?" Nick asked, concerned._

_I nodded managing to hold in my tears._

_Nick jumped off the swing and walked over me._

"_Tell me," he whispered._

"_My mom just told me," I choked out, "We're moving again!"_

_Shock took over Nick's face, but he didn't give in. He wrapped his arms around me._

"_Sssh," he soothed, "its ok. People have long distances relationships all the time. Maybe we can work through it."_

_I pulled away from him._

"_We both know that won't work," I reasoned, "We can't do this anymore."_

_Tears now started pouring freely down my face and they welled in Nick's eyes too._

"_Nick we can't be together anymore. I don't want to end this either. I'm so sorry we're over," I could barely speak due to the tears. _

"_No," Nick said softly, shaking his head, "Please."_

"_It hurts me too Nick," I promised._

"_When are you leaving?"_

"_This is goodbye," I bawled._

_Nick pounded his fist against the slide angrily. Not mad at me, but in general._

"_Goodbye Nick," I turned and started hurrying away. I couldn't stand to see him hurt any longer._

"_Gabi!" he called uselessly, "Gabriella!"_

**End Flashback**

I pulled out of those thoughts just as I reached the office. I got Ms. Darbus's paper and right as I got back to homeroom the bell rang. I thankfully grabbed my books and hurried towards my next class.

I walked past Troy.

"See ya second period," he grinned.

"Yep!" I replied back before moving faster.

I looked around my first period classroom noticing it was only East High students. I shrugged and sat down. The class was about to start as Nick walked in. I was already surrounded so he took a seat in the front. Everyone started whispering about him being the only West High student.

"Westie, what's it like over on the dirty side of Albuquerque?" someone called causing everyone to laugh.

I watched as people threw bits of paper at his head. I hoped another West High student would come in. The door opened but it was another teacher asking to see our teacher in the hallway. As one more bit of paper hit Nick I jumped up.

"Will you guys stop?" I asked the class, "It's his first time in a new school and he hasn't given you a reason to hate him yet!"

"Sorry Gabi!" Jake from the basketball team called.

I slumped back into my chair without another word. As our teacher came back in Nick turned to look at me. I pointedly stared at my desk.

When the class ended I hurried out, met Troy and Taylor in the hallway, and rushed with them to our next class which he have together. There's no way I can do this all year.

**Author's Note**

**Thanks so much for all the sweet reviews! You guys are great! If you keep that up I'll keep updating ASAP!!! Sorry this chapter was so short, but it gave you a little background! **

**PRONUCIATION KEY**

_**Despotakis- D**_**es (desk without a k)...po (like Edgar Allen _Poe_)...tak (like a tic _tac_)...is (like the end of the word th_is_) Des-po-tac-iss**

_**Feroce- **_**Fer (like_ fur_ on an animal) ...o (like **_**oh**_** my gosh!)...ce (like I **_**see**_** you) Fur-oh-see**

_**Rivi- **_**Ri (ree)... vi (vee) Ree-vee**

**_Noble_- Um... if you seriously don't know how to say that, well there might be something wrong! (jk)**

**Just wanted to clear that up because those names should always be said like that! lol Thanks again!! Please Review!!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 "What happened to your thumb!?!"**

**Troy's POV**

**TUESDAY**

"Here we are!" Chad exclaimed as we walked out of the locker room, "Gym class."

I grinned.

"Let's check out what Westie's are joining us," I said.

We were dressed in our gym uniforms and Chad was bouncing his ball. We were the last ones out of the locker room.  
"Alright!" my dad called, "Rules in my gym class are: Have fun but don't mess around! Don't complain! And work as a team, but be competitive! We're starting the year with basketball. We'll play some games, learn some passes, and test you in a couple of weeks.

Split into two groups!"

There were just enough people for two even teams.

"Half of you at one hoop, half at the other!" my dad called, "Since it's the first day of gym class, you can just shoot for fun!"

Ten minutes later, when West High was on one side and we were on the other, we were all taking turns at different kinds of shots.

"Whoa!" Chad shouted suddenly, "Bad news dude!"

"What?" I asked."Basketball is _good news_ idiot," I laughed at him, "That's your favorite sport man."

"No!" Chad hit me, "What if the Westie's join our team!?!"  
My face fell.

"Those Knights can't be Wildcats!" I demanded.

We looked over at them. I recognized three of them from playing them in basketball. The fourth kid had the ball. He passed it roughly to Despotakis. He tried to reach up quick enough and grab it, but it bounced off the top of his thumb. He called out in pain and I rolled my eyes.

"Let's ask my dad," I said.

Chad and I walked across the gym to where my dad was standing with his foot on a bleacher.  
"Hey guys," dad greeted, "Tired of basketball already?"  
"No way," Chad replied, "We were just wondering about those Knights. We were wondering if they're gonna be on our team."

"Actually I don't know," dad told us, "We don't have any open spot, but the final decision is Mr. Matsui's."

Chad and I grinned at each other.

"What?" my dad questioned nervously.

"We'll talk to Matsui," I assured my dad punching Chad's shoulder.

"Let's go!" Chad smiled dribbling onto the court.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Gabriella's POV

"I'm working on music for you and Troy for the musical," Kelsi was telling me.

"Slow down Kels," I smiled, "Let's see if we get it first."

Kelsi rolled her eyes as we walked out of the auditorium.

"I'm going left to the library," she told me.

"I'm going right," I replied, "Bye."

"Bye."

I started walking down an empty hallway. Free Period had just started so I wasn't in a hurry. I was walking past a door when it started to open. I side stepped quickly.

"Sorry," the guy mumbled.

"It's ok," I replied.

Nick looked up and realized it was me.

"Gabi," he said quietly.

"Hi Nick," I said, "It's been awhile."  
"Since you ran out?" he asked, "Yeah."

My face fell, "I'm sorry. I thought you-"

"It's ok!" he laughed, "I was just kidding. I understand why you left. It was what you had to do."

"So you got over me pretty quick?" I asked.

We had started walking down the hallway aimlessly.

"Not exactly. Especially now seeing you again."

"I know!" I exclaimed, "It's weird huh?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "But in a good way."

I smiled. I was looking at him when I stumbled and fell to the floor. My books flew across the ground and I laughed as I pushed myself up.

"Whoa!" Nick laughed, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah!" I grinned, not embarrassed at all.

Nick helped me pick up my books. As he handed me the last one I noticed something about his thumb.

"What happened to your thumb?" I asked grabbing his hand before he could pull away.  
It was all black and blue under the nail.

"Oh that," he mumbled, "I stubbed my thumb on a basketball.

I snorted trying to hold in my laughter.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, "Bobby wailed it at me!"

"Oh my gosh!" I said, "I haven't seen Bobby in forever! Or Mike and Mike!"

"Use their last names please," Nick begged, "Two Mike's is too confusing!"  
"Sorry!" I said, "But how are they?"

"Great," Nick told me, "Exactly the same."  
"So I haven't missed much?" I asked.

"Nothing important, besides the things that Feroce has done. We blame him for the fire." he laughed

"Always Feroce's fault," I mumbled thinking about the inside joke we had started a couple years earlier.

"Have we missed a lot with you?" Nick asked

"Actually you have," I explained, "I probably seem the same to you, but East High changed me."  
Nick looked shocked, "You mean like you're boyfriend?"

"What!?!" I exclaimed, "I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Aren't you dating that Bolton kid?" Nick asked.

"Oh!" I laughed, "No! Troy's just my best friend! I meant more East High changed me, you would be suprised that I'm not afraid to sing in public anymore!"

"No way!" he laughed

My cell phone rang and I pulled it out of my purse to read the text.

"I'm needed in the lab," I explained.

"Ah man," Nick complained, "I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Yep!" I replied, "Bye!"

**Author's Note**

**Hey everyone! Once again I'm sorry for the shortness! I promise they get longer and more exciting! But hey, quality not quantity! That's what my mom always told me! lol Anyway! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Please stick with us! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 "I think I kinda look like Link..."**

**Gabriella's POV**

**WEDNESDAY**

My door opened suddenly, but I knew why.

"Helloooooo," I said from the couch.  
Troy, Taylor, Kelsi, Chad, and Jason walked into my living room.

"Hi Gabi," they all said plopping down onto my couch, chair, and ground.

"Here we are for our first traditional movie watching night of the school year!" Chad announced lying down across the whole couch and pulling Taylor down on top of him.

"Yeah," Jason said, "But this is the first yeah we've had to share our space at school with the Westies."

Everyone groaned or agreed at the same time.

"Don't even get me started!" Taylor shouted.

"And they're not even trying to get a good reputation," Troy chimed in from the ground where he was sitting on a bean bag chair.

"What do you mean?" Kelsi asked.

"I've seen them glaring, heard them saying mean things, and just being obnoxious in class."

"I can't believe they're even in our school!" Chad exclaimed.

"It's ironic really," Taylor pointed out.

"At least we know they won't be on our team," Troy said.

"How'd you do that?" Jason questioned.

"The choice was Matsui's," Chad grinned.

"Ooooh," Jason said, understanding.

"I still don't get it," Kelsi pointed out.

"Matsui is like_ in love_ with Troy," Jason explained.

I sat silently as they smacked on the West High students for a couple more minutes.

"Speaking of Matsui," I chimed in, "He sat in on Cooper's class today!"

"No way!" everyone shouted, intrigued.

"Well! What happened!?!" Troy urged, nudging me with his foot.

"It was so funny," I remembered smiling, "Because Mrs. Cooper was acting all professional and stuff."

Mrs. Cooper is a tall, big lady with glasses, short blonde hair, and the whineiest voice ever. She's also the worst science teacher imaginable and talks to us about things that would make you think we're best friends.

"She made us watch a video," Troy told us.

"That's because your class is right after mine and she didn't feel like teaching anymore," I pointed out.

"In my class," Chad started, "We were taking notes and David Artnz kept asking ridiculous questions. After everything she said he'd be like I don't understand, maybe if you said it louder."

We all started cracking up.

"Did she freak out?" Kelsi asked.

"Yeah!" Chad went on, "She was like; 'David Artnz! This is really easy material! Pay attention the first time!"

Chad said this in an amazing Cooper impression voice.

"Then Dave acted all hurt and said she called him stupid, it was sweet!" Chad finished.

Ten minutes later we had started watching the movie. It was my turn to pick one and I had chosen Hairspray. We sat pretty quietly munching on popcorn for the beginning of the movie.

"I love this song!" Kelsi exclaimed as Ladies Choice started.

"He is so hot," I agreed staring at the screen.

"You know," Troy said, "I think I kinda look like Link."

All five of us stared at him, eyebrows raised.

"No," Taylor said, "I don't see it."  
"You guys are jerks!" Troy shouted making us laugh.

It was so much fun to just hang out with my best friends and talk about whatever came to mind. I thought about what I had said to Nick yesterday. East High really had changed me for the good, he just couldn't see a difference because I was always myself around them.

_Flashback_

"_Was that rain?" I asked, "Did you feel that?"_

"_What are you talking about?" Rivi asked._

"_I didn't feel anything," Nick said._

"_I did."_

"_Shut up Feroce," Rivi called._

_We were all in the park and it was getting dark._

"_Gabriella," Bobby said, "You must be feeling things because-"_

_He was cut of as a pouring rain started. Before we could move we were soaked._

"_To the pavilion?" Nick asked over the loud rain._

"_No!" I called back, "I love rain!"_

_I started spinning around and dancing. I grabbed Rivi's hands and made him dance with me. We were both laughing hysterically. We heard a shout and looked over. Nick slipped in a puddle and landed in a huge spot of mud. All of us laughed and ran over to him. He started to sit up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me down._

"_Hey!" I shouted landing in the puddle. I slapped his arm playfully, "I'm gonna get you for that!"_

"_Oh yeah?" he asked, "I don't think so!"  
He pulled me over and started kissing me. I kissed him back; we'd been dating for months. But little did he know, my hand was full of mud. I pulled away quickly and dropped it on him. I hid behind Bobby. Everyone laughed and we continued to run around in the rain._

_  
End Flashback_

How am I supposed to choose between my two groups of best friends...?

**Author's Note**

**Hey! So this chapter was to show the dilemma that Gabriella is in. Like I said, the excitement will keep getting bigger! Please keep reading! You guys are great and thank you!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 "What-was-that about?"**

**Nick's POV**

**THURSDAY**

"So we can't be on the team?" Rivi was asking.

"Nope," I replied, "I bet I can guess who's behind it."

We were sitting together at a lunch table.

"Bolton," Feroce pointed out.

"That'd be my guess," I said.

I turned slightly to look at Bolton's table. The six people at it were laughing hysterically. And Bolton was sitting next to Gabriella. He shouldn't be getting her all to himself.

"I know what you're thinking man," Bobby said, "How do you expect Gabriella to decide between us and them?"

"I don't," I replied, "That's the thing. I wouldn't mind if she was friends with us and them. I'd even be alright with hanging out with Bolton if I had to. As long as Gabriella is there."

"You really miss her huh?"

"Obviously he does Feroce!" Rivi called.

"Yeah," I answered, "But the only reason I don't like Bolton is basketball and I'd bet money that's the only reason he has a problem with us. And we both know that's stupid."

"Yeah, I heard Gabriella talking to that girl about Bolton. She was saying howhe would usually never judge anybody and she doesn't understand why he's not giving us Knights a chance," Rivi told me.

I nodded understanding.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

I'm walking through the hall with Chad and Jason between classes. People were all over, in their lockers, and just getting to their next class. We turned a corner and were stopped abruptly by a pack of people.

"What's going on?" Jason asked the obvious question.

All of the sudden part of the crowd jumped back. I then noticed two people rolling on the ground. One guy in red and one in blue. There was blood splattered on the ground as they continued to punch each other.

I hurriedly started pushing through the crowd. They all stepped aside to let usthrough.

"Hey!" I called, "Stop it!"

I grabbed the East High kid and pulled him away. He was fuming.

"Calm down man," I urged holding him away from the other guy, "Just walk away. It's not worth it."

"You're right," he agreed backing off, "Just keep that kid away from me!"

It wasn't even surprising to see a fight in the halls anymore. There was at least one everyday. The school was completely dived now. All East High people wore red everyday and the Westies and started wearing only blue. Pretty soon no one would be wearing anything but their school color.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Nick's POV**

"Hey Gabi!" I called.

I had just walked out of school with the guys and seen her sitting by herself at a picnic table. The day had just ended and everyday was leaving.

"Gabriella!" the guys called.

We ran over to her and dropped onto the picnic table.

"Hey guys!" she replied,she had a huge smile on her face "I can't believe it's already Thursday and I haven't talked to you guys all week!"  
"Yeah," Rivi agreed, "It's a good thing you're a loser and are sitting out here all by yourself."  
"Shut up!" Gabi laughed, "I'm waiting for Taylor and Kelsi!"  
"No boys today?" Bobby asked.

"Troy, Jason, and Chad have basketball," she explained, "Which reminds me. If they're mean to you, I'm sorry. They're really not like that."

"It's not like they're the only ones being jerks to us West High people," I reasoned.

"And it's not like we're not jerks back," Feroce told her.

"I know," Gabriella said, "I just don't want you to think I'm friends with jerks. But anyway, the fire was your fault, wasn't it Feroce?"

"You still remember that joke?" Rivi asked.

"Of course!"

After we calmed downwe announced they had to go. Gabriella got up and gave each of them hug. I waited for mine, but it didn't come.

"The guys and I are going out tomorrow," I told her when we were alone, "Do you wanna come?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, "I'd love to!"

"That's Taylor and Kelsi isn't it?" I asked suddenly.

Gabriella looked behind me and waved.

"Yeah it is."

"Well I better go," I told her.

"Oh ok," she replied.

I may have been overreacting but it sounded like she was disappointed.

"Hey Tay! Hey Kels," Gabriella said to them, "I'll be ready to go in a second."

She jumped off the table and through her arms around me.

I felt dizzy and squeezed her back. We lingered for a couple seconds longer and she pulled away.

"Bye Nick."

"Bye Gabi," I smiled and happily walked away.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

"What-was-that about?" I heard Taylor ask.

I turned to face my best friends and they were smiling at me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, "You guys know I went to West High."

"But not that you had hot guy best friends!" Kelsi exclaimed.

"Yeah that's not really fair," Taylor said, "Because then you came here and got more hot guy best friends."

"Tay, they're your best friends too."

"Yeah but really, we sawyour other friends walking away."

"Actually," I told them, "I dated that one with thedark hairfor over a year."

"What!?!" they shouted at the same time.

"Come on," I told them, "I'll tell you on the way to Tay's house."

They hurriedly got up to follow me.

"Ok," I started taking a deep breath, "As you know I went to West High for 9th and 10th grade. Those guys, Nick, Bobby, Feroce, and Rivi were my best friends. We were always together. In July between those two grades I told Rivi how hard I was crushing on Nick, and he said he already knew. I was that obvious. Then I just let it slip accidentally one day and we got together."

"Just like that?" Kelsi asked.

"Yep," I replied, "We dated for another year and we were in love."

"Why the heck did you break up?" Taylor exclaimed.

"My mom got transferred to California. I got over Nick and moved on," I told them.

"And now?" Kelsi urged.

"Things are more complicated," I told them.

"Why?" Taylor asked, "Do you still like him?"

"I'm started too," I admitted, "But-"

"But what?"

"Never mind," I said, "I guess it's just...hard having best East _and_ West high friends."

"Don't worry about that," Kelsi said, "As long as you don't make any new West High friends!"

We smiled but I was drifting to my thoughts.

Does Nick feel the same way he used to? And then I realized the thing I felt for Troy was just loving him as a best friend or brother. I actually laughed at the thought of feeling something more for Troy Bolton.

**Author's Note**

**Uh oh, I sense a bit of a love triangle! lol How's it gonna end up? Well, hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! PLEASE review!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 "Have you seen my biceps?"**

**Gabriella's POV  
FRIDAY**

I rummaged through my closet looking for something to wear. I was supposed to be meeting the guys in a half hour in the park where we played in the rain in. I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed a white zip up hoodie for over my colorful tank top. I ran down the steps and quickly wrote a note to my mom. I grabbed my keys, locked the door, and started on my way. A little over a half hour later I pulled to the side of the road by the park. The park was large with grassy hills all over it. Large trees were also planted everywhere. I was about to pull out my phone to call the guys when their car pulled up behind me. They all piled out of the car laughing hysterically. I saw Bobby first. He was wearing a football jersey of his favorite quarterback.

"Nice shirt Bobby!" I called.

The guys started laughing again.

"Oh!"  
"You know it's bad when Gabriella makes fun of you!" 

"We really are gonna burn that jersey, man!"  
"What is _up_ with you guys?" I asked smiling.

"What's not to be excited about?" Rivi replied.

He was wearing cargo shorts and a blue zip up Hollister hoodie, his favorite hoodie.

Feroce was already going towards the hill we always used to go to. He was wearing a simple gray hoodie.

"Hey Gabi," Nick breathed he had just stopped laughing.

He was wearing a dark blue polo with a small red symbol on it.

"Hey Nick," I replied, "I bet I can beat all three of you to the hill."

"No you can't-"

I was already running. I looked back as they started after me. I was laughing and almost tripped. As they caught up to me and started passing, I jumped on Bobby's back and he surprisingly didn't fall. We all made it to the bottom of "our" hill where Feroce was laying.

"Gabi do you remember playing hockey in gym class?" Bobby asked.

"Of course I do!" I replied, "Winning or losing was life or death to _all_ guys!"

"You should've seen a game we during the last week of school in 11th grade," Nick told me.

"It was amazing," Bobby added.

"Best comeback ever!" Feroce finished.

I looked at each one of them. They were all staring into the distance, remembering.

"You guys are sick," I said seriously.

They came out of their trance, laughing.

"I also love the weight room section of gym class," Rivi added.

"Why you can't lift like anything," Feroce lied.

"Are you serious!" Rivi exclaimed, "I could bench press you! Have you seen my biceps?"

We all laughed as he pulled up his sleeve.

We hung out for a couple hours. We talked and laughed and played games that we could think of that didn't require balls, cards, or boards. It was getting darker, but was still dusk. Nick and I were standing and the other guys were lying on the ground. Feroce was going off on a rant about a teacher that stole his pen or something. Nick and I made eye contact and smiled. He silently walked towards me and when he reached me I started walking too. When we got to flat land at the top of our hill we started talking.

"What was he talking about?" Nick asked.

"Pens or something," I laughed, "I really missed this."

"What?" he asked grinning.

"This!" I couldn't help but to smile back, "You! The guys! Hanging out!"

"Yeah?" he continued to grin and nudged me.

"Stop looking at me like that," he laughed looking away.

"Why?" he questioned stopping in front of me.

"It makes me remember," I mumbled.

"Remember what?" he asked quietly.

I looked up at him and stared directly into his beautiful dark eyes.

"Us."

"That doesn't have to be a memory," he told me.

I nodded and grabbed his hands. We both knew exactly what was happening as we leaned for each other. Our lips met and memories came flowing back. What was meant to be a quick soft kiss ended up as a long desperate one.

When we finally broke apart neither of us moved.

"Do you really think we can pick right up where we left off?" I asked.

"I really think it's worth a try," Nick smiled, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Even though I knew it was coming, it was shocking to hear the words. I smiled.

"Yes!"

We wrapped our arms around each other tightly.

"Do you think the guys will be surprised?" I asked pulling away.

Nick raised his eyebrows at me in reply, "Are you serious?"

I laughed, grabbed his hand, and started running back to the guys.

"You finally popped the question!" Rivi exclaimed as he first saw us, "Yay!"  
"They're no getting married!" Feroce shouted.

Nick and I ran down the hill holding hands.

"They know Feroce," Nick said.

"Everything's back to normal," Bobby stated.

We all agreed but I didn't on the inside. Nothing was normal. I now had 5 other best friends to love too, Troy, Chad, Jason, Taylor, and Kelsi.

"Gabriella!"

I broke out of my thoughts and saw the guys lying on their back staring at the sky. I smiled and dropped down between Nick and Rivi.

"I see a monkey cloud," I stated.

"I see a basketball," Nick replied.

"You mean a circle?" Rivi asked.

"No, a basketball."

"I see a football," Bobby said.

We rolled our eyes and sighed at him.

**Author's Note**

**Sorry this chapter was kind of short but it obviously played an important part in the love triangle! Now don't get too upset with the Nick and Gabriella twists...a lot can still happen! Thanks for reading and thanks to all you reviewers! Please keep them coming! Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 "Be a real man and chug it!"**

**Troy's POV  
MONDAY**

It had been a fast weekend. I hadn't talked to my friends except for Chad and Jason because we had basketball training all weekend. It was now Monday and I had just walked in the front doors and I was headed for Gabriella's locker. A bunch of people called hey or smacked me on the back. I turned the first corner and saw only blue or red. It was definitely obvious who was from East High and who was from West High. Not a single person wasn't wearing they're school color. I turned into Gabriella's hallway which was usually full of people. I was jumping through people in a weirdly good mood. My eyes landed on Gabriella's locker and a sight that nothing could have prepared me for met my eyes. Through the sea of red and blue I saw Gabriella holding hands with Nick Despotakis. I focused in on them. Gabriella was wearing yellow. She was split half and half. I felt like I was spinning out of control and didn't know why! I only feel this way because it's Despotakis, I told myself. I watched unwillingly as they started leaning for each other.

"Hey Troy!" Chad jumped in front of my face and his hair blocked the view.

"Hey man," I mumbled.

"What's up?"

"Nothing," I lied, "Did you see Gabriella?"

"Tay told me," Chad replied, "I guess Gabriella called her and when I was talking to Tay last night she told me."

"Yeah," I said trying to be cool about it, "Wanna get to home room?"

Chad led the way.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

"Hey guys!" Gabriella sat down next to me at lunch like always.

"Hey Gabi!" everyone called

"You can sit with them," I told her, not trying to be mean.

"You know?" she asked.

"Yep."

"I was going to tell you Troy. I was planning on telling you right now."

"It's ok Gabs," I turned to her smiling, "Do you really think I'd be mad?"

"Of course not," she told me, "But you're my best friends. You deserve to be told by me personally."

Our friends didn't even try to act like they weren't listening.

"Has anyone been a jerk to you because you're hanging out with him?" I questioned her.

"No," she answered shortly, but I could tell she was telling the truth.

"That's weird," Taylor put in.

"No it's not," Jason told her.

"Why isn't it weird that no one's giving her grief?"

"Because they know Troy would kick the crap out of then if they did," Chad replied seriously.

"Gabriella!" we heard her name being called from the West High side.

"Go ahead," I whispered.

"I'll sit with you guys tomorrow," she promised.

She squeezed my hand under the table before going walking over to her boyfriend.

"Wanna watch 'em?" Chad asked.

"Heck yeah we do," Taylor replied moving over for a better view.

They started talking and laughing as they watched Gabriella. I didn't see anything funny. All I saw was Nick grinning at her, Gabriella eating his food, and the group of them laughing and having fun with each others company.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

It was a lot different on West High's side of the cafeteria. But weirdly enough no one tried to kick me out.

"Remember when I chugged that water at the amusement park?" Rivi asked.

"Yeah we had to get out of line for a roller coaster so you could pee!" Nick replied.

"I can chug pretty good though, not gonna lie," Rivi grinned.

"You're not that good," Feroce said.

"You think you could do better?" Rivi challenged, "Here chug this ice tea."

"What?" Feroce said, "I never-"

"Come on Feroce!" I exclaimed, "Be a real man and chug it!"

Feroce opened the carton and quickly chugged it all!

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Nick's POV**

"Where do you wanna go for free period?" I asked.

"The library!" Gabriella exclaimed laughing.

"Uh, no!"

"Ok how about the auditorium," Gabriella suggested, "I have to pick up some music."

"Okay, wheres the auditorium?" I asked.

Gabriella took the lead and we talked happily as we walked down the hallway.

"Let's go in this door," Gabriella said.

We walked through a door that led backstage.

"So this is where you did a musical huh?" I questioned.

"Connected by a feeling, ooh in our very souls," Gabi sang and did a leap making me laugh.

"Gabriella?" a voice spoke.

Troy came into view.

"Hey Troy!" she said, "What's up?"

"I was looking for Kels," Troy replied.

"She and Jase are with Taylor in the lab," Gabriella told him.

"Thanks," Troy smiled, "What are you looking for?"

"Kels left me music," I explained.

"It's on the piano on stage," Troy told her.

"Thank! Be right back guys!"

Gabriella slipped away and disappeared in the curtain.

"So you're the best friend?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

"Yep," Troy replied, "Why do you sound nervous about that?" 

"Haven't you ever dated a girl with a guy best friend," I asked, "It's nerve racking cause you know the guy is always watching you for mistakes."

"Don't do anything to her and you won't have anything to worry about," Troy replied with a smile.

"You don't have to worry about that, man," I said back.

I knew Troy had wanted to say the famous guy best friend line: If you hurt her you'll have me to answer to. But then again he obviously didn't want to be mean about the situation either. Maybe he wasn't that bad.

"Gabriella wasn't very sneaky with her way of getting us to talk was she?" Troy asked.

"No," I laughed, "But we'll let her believe she was."  
"Like she's not listening to our whole conversation from behind the curtain," Troy pointed out.

"Dang how do you know me so well!?" Gabriella exclaimed jumping out.

Troy just grinned.

"See ya guys later," he added, "I just remembered I'm supposed to be meeting Chad in the gym."

**hsmsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

"I believe I can fly! I believe I can touch the sky!"

That was all I heard as I walked into the gym quietly.

"Think about it every night and day!"

Chad butchered the next line too.

"Dude!" shouted, "Chad stop!'

"Troy!" he called smiling as I walked onto the court.

"I thought you asked me to meet you here, but if you'd rather keep dreaming about being Michael Crawford I'll go!" I offered.

"No it's alright," Chad laughed, "Wanna shoot?"

He tossed me a ball.

"Yeah," I agreed.

We started taking turns shooting and just hanging out.

"So dude," Chad said, "Gabriella's got a boyfriend."

"Yeah," I said, "You jealous?"  
Chad laughed at my joke.

"I think you're jealous enough for both us," he replied.

I looked at him shocked and took another shot.

"Nice try," I told him, "But no. It doesn't even bother me that it's Nick Despotakis that she's dating."

"Why not?" Chad questioned walking to the bleachers to get a drink.

I followed him and only answered when we were both sitting down.

"Because if she wants to be with him, who am I to say she can't?" I answered honestly, "And besides, I hate West High but it doesn't mean they're all bad."  
"Yeah," Chad understood, "I hate that school too but that's ok because it's not only because of basketball."

"Yeah," I answered, "It really is because most of them are jerks. They're fans are jerks, the parents are jerks, and they have cheating refs. But I don't think Gabriella would be friends with those guys if they were jerks."

"I don't either," Chad agreed, "But seriously, don't you kind of wish that was you holding her hand and carrying her books?"

"Nah," I said.

"Dude come on," he urged, "You can tell me."

"I am telling you," I replied, "She's my best friends and nothing more. Let's take some more shots before we gotta go back to class!"  
I jumped off the bleachers so I didn't have to talk about Gabriella anymore. I have the right to not want to. Any guys would feel this way when his best friend got a boyfriend. Who am I trying to kid...?

**Author's Note**

**Hey guys!! Thanks again for reading and the sweet reviews! All I have to say is: Troyella fans, hang in there!**

_-- Hey everybody!! Shelby here, I just wanted to say that Rosie is really sick and I think alot of reviews would be good for her! She has been writing and sending me these chapters even though I know she probably feels like crap. So lets make her feel better and Review!! Thanks! And let me just say again Troyella fans hang in there, I know the ending of the story and it will get better, even though im in love with the new characters myself_ _C_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 "Just cause he's coaches' son..."**

**Nick's POV**

**TUESDAY**

"Watch out!" Rivi shouted pulling me back.

He moved me just in time. Two guys who were slamming each other around landed right where I had been standing. We turned and started toward another hallway. An odd shrieking noise met our ears.

"What the heck is that?" I exclaimed.

"It sounds like a dying cat to me!" Rivi replied.

We followed the noise into a classroom and all that was inside were two girls. One of them was pulling the others hair. The West High girl got away and slapped the East High girl. We watched shocked as they continued to cat fight.

"Do you think we should stop them?"

"I'm not getting in that," I replied, "We gotta get to gym!"  
We turned and started off again for the gym

"Hey guys!" Bobby greeted as we walked into the locker room.

"Hey man," I said, "What's up?"

"We're playing a basketball game today," he explained, "I'm done for."

We laughed. Five minutes later we were setting up to play. Six of us Knights were on one side and six Wildcats on the other. We would play for a couple minutes then rotate so everyone got a chance to play. The game started and we played like it was a real game. I was against Danforth and Bobby was against Troy. Rivi was with Jason Cross. I felt bad for Bobby. He got the ball and tried to get it across the gym to me. A Wildcat I knew was named Jimmy, jumped up and caught it.

"He's even throwing interceptions in basketball!" Rivi laughed.

Troy received the ball and started down the court. Bobby tried to challenge him but Troy pushed through knocking Bobby to the ground. Everyone on our team complained loudly.

"Foul!" I shouted.

Coach Bolton blew his whistle.

"Play on!" he shouted.

"Stupid Bolton! Just cause he's coaches son," I heard Bobby mumbling.

Unfortunately the Jimmy kid heard too.

"What'd you say?" he demanded.

"You heard me," Bobby replied, "Bolton thinks he's hot stuff because his daddy's the coach!"

"I'm warning you to shut up now," Jimmy said through clenched teeth.

No one else had noticed the disturbance.

"Bolton's got nothing!" Bobby replied, "People are just brainwashed into thinking he's some kind of hero!"

Jimmy reached up and grabbed the neckline of Bobby's shirt.

"I warned you!" Jimmy said getting in his face.

"Guys!" I said moving closer, "Just stop. Bobby shut up, you don't mean what you're saying."

Bobby raised his fist and slammed Jimmy in the face. Jimmy pounced back tackling Bobby to the floor. Everyone else just now stopped playing. Coach Bolton's whistle filled the room as he ran over and grabbed Bobby. Troy ran forward to pull Jimmy away.

"Stop it right now!" Coach Bolton shouted loudly, "Jimmy go sit on the bench. Bobby you go over to the other bleachers! This is ridiculous! You boys are 17 years old and can't even get through a simple gym class! The rest of you play on!"

We rotated players a couple minutes later and I noticed Troy go over and sit by Jimmy. I went to the nearby water fountain so I could listen to what they were saying.

"What happened man?" Troy asked.

"He was pulling the coaches son crap on you," Jimmy explained angrily.

"And you were standing up for me," Troy stated, "Thanks man. I appreciate it, but it's really not worth it. Let him think what he wants. And I'm used to that. At least one person says that to me at all of our games."

"Really?" Jimmy asked, "That makes me so mad! So let me guess, that dunk you had last year at Burrell was in everyone's imagination?"  
"No actually, according to the Burrell fans I had a trampoline," Troy replied, "Thanks again man."

Troy got up, leaving me completely shocked and actually feeling bad for him.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

"Did anything exciting happen to you today?" Troy asked me.

"That's weird," I stated, "I was just thinking about what a boring and normal day today was!"  
I was sitting in the passenger seat of Troy's car. We were on our way to meet our friends at our favorite ice cream place.

"I heard you had a pretty exciting gym class," I stated.

"I guess you could call it exciting," Troy replied, "Your friend Bobby sure can pack a punch!"  
"Did he hit you!?" I exclaimed.

"No," Troy assured me, "But Jimmy is pretty tough and Bobby knocked him over."

"Oh," I said relieved.

"But let's talk about something happy," Troy urged.

"Ok," I thought, "How about your first basketball game is coming!"

"Oh I can't wait," Troy gushed, "I miss it so much!"

I looked at him smiling slightly.

"Another happy thought," Troy started, "We're here!"

He turned left into the parking lot of the local ice cream place. Chad, Jason, Taylor, and Kelsi were already sitting at a table eating ice cream.

"Hello!" I screamed out the window, they were the only ones sitting at an outdoor table.

Troy parked and we went straight to the ordering window.

"What do you want?" Troy asked me.

"I'm not telling you," I told him, "Because then you'll try to buy it for me!"

"Ok," Troy turned to the lady in the window, "Give me two large cookie dough blizzards."

"How did you know that's what I wanted!?" I exclaimed.

Troy winked at me grinning. I went to sit down and a minute later Troy handed me one of the blizzards.

"Thanks Troy," I said.

"No problem."

"Gabriella!" Chad exclaimed, "There is no way you're going to eat all that!"

"Are you serious?" Kelsi asked, "Gabriella can wolf down so much food!"

"She can eat more of those things than you!" Taylor challenged her boyfriend.

"Have you seen how much I can eat?" Chad asked.

"Let's do it," Troy said, "Blizzard eating contest, who's in?"

"Me!" Chad exclaimed.

"Me!" I added.

"Let's all do it," Troy suggested.

"I want to but I've already eaten two bowls of ice cream," Kelsi said, "But I'll continue to supply you guys with ice cream!"

"Sounds good," Troy shouted, "Let's go!"  
We all got two blizzards in front of us to start. It wasn't timed, it was just to see who could eat the most.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

"I can't eat another bite!" Taylor exclaimed.

"I don't even want to look at it," Jason added.

Chad, Troy, and I were still in the competition. We had all had three blizzards. I started into my fourth and Chad groaned in protest. My stomach was so full but I had to beat Chad. Troy quickly shoveled in his fourth.

"Ok! I give up! You win!" Chad shouted.

He shoved away the second half of his fourth. When I had finished my fourth Troy and I called a truce.

"Think about what you're saying next time you challenge me to an eating contest!" I laughed at Chad.

"That's crazy that you can fit all that in your little body," Troy told me.

"Believe me!" I told them, "I'm full!"

"Me too," Troy agreed.

"I feel fine," Kelsi mocked us, "I could eat another bowl of ice cream."

"You're in luck!" Chad said, "I got some for ya!"

He grabbed his half eaten blizzard and threw it in her face! We all stared in shock until Kelsi started laughing. We grabbed the leftover ice cream and ran into the grass, throwing it at each other.

"I was planning a picnic, but this is a greater cause!" Troy shouted running from his car carrying two hoagies, a few cans of soda, a bag of chips, and a couple cookies.

He set them on the ground and a full out food fight broke out. I grabbed a sandwich and started throwing the meat at people. I suddenly felt wetness all down my back. I turned and saw Jason running away with an empty can.

I ran after him and Taylor helped me by crushing chips on his face. I grabbed him and started beating him with the long bun loaf of bread! I felt Troy's hands grab me and pull me away. He set me on the ground, stood across me and started crumpling cookies on me.

"Oh man!" I shouted trying to roll away.

Kelsi jumped onto Troy's back and I thought I was free, but Chad grabbed me and dumped more soda on me. After five minutes we all dropped to the ground.

"Good thing the owners of this place love us," Troy stated.

We all laughed.

"They just let us do what we want," Chad added, "I love it."  
We all started getting up and heading for our cars.

"Holy crap Montez!" Troy exclaimed, "You're a mess!"

"It's not my fault!" I laughed, and then remembered, "Oh yeah you just cleaned your car!"

"Here," Troy said pulling a sweatshirt and sweatpants out of his back seat, "You can change into these. I'll wait out here."

I crawled into his car and changed. His clothes are so comfortable.

"I'm ready!" I called.

Troy got into the car and we started driving home.

**Author's Note**

**This chapter added a little to the plot, sorry it wasn't crazy exciting...I promise, there's a lot in the next few chapters! A couple of chapter's people were asking for more to happen between Troy and Gabriella to make the triangle crazier...there ya go! Thanks for waiting! Thanks to all of you for reading! Please review! **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 "I do love Taco Bell

**Chapter 10 "I do love Taco Bell..."**

**Nick's POV  
WEDNESDAY**

"You look gorgeous," I gushed honestly as I laid my eyes on Gabriella.

She was wearing a light pink dress that fell just below her knees. The top was a slight v-neck and tied behind her neck.

"Why thank you," she grinned getting in my car, "So we're going somewhere fancy?"

"Or I just wanted you to dress up," I joked.

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

We dove for about a half hour before reaching the restaurant.

"I bet you've never been here before," I said as we walked into the huge place. A small stage was placed in the back.

"Actually, um I...I have," Gabriella stuttered, "Just once. I watched an elderly guy karaoke here."

I laughed deciding not to question her further.

"Can you believe how many fights happen at school?" Gabriella asked as we were led to our table.

"Yeah I can actually," I replied, "The famous West High/ East High hatred has been around since before we were born."

"Really?" she asked, "I thought it was a recent thing."

"Nope," I explained, "No one really knows how it started..."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

An hour and a half later Gabriella and I were back in her house. She had changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and we were now cuddled together on her couch.

"That food was great," Gabriella stated.

"I know!" I exclaimed, "There was so much of it too!"

"Ha ha!" Gabriella mocked me, "I finished mine and you didn't finish yours!"  
"Shut up!" I grinned.

"Jerk," she mumbled moving around to face me.

"Come here," I demanded.

She dropped down on top of me and our lips crashed together. We deepened the kiss for a few minutes.

"Hey," I whispered pulling away, "Gabi?"

"Yeah?" she asked, matching my voice in volume.

"I love you." A smile slowly crept across my girlfriends face.

"I love you too Nick," she said letting out a laugh of relief, "I love you!"

She pecked me on the lips quickly. We then sat facing each other and talking.

A loud ring from Gabriella's phone interrupted us. It was a text from Kelsi. She opened her phone and read the message out loud.

"Is it my turn to pick the movie for tonight? Because I forgot and we're almost at your house."

"Crap!" Gabriella exclaimed after she read it, "It's Wednesday! It's movie night!"

"Movie night?" I questioned.

"Yeah, every Wednesday my friends come over to watch a movie!" Gabriella exclaimed spastically.

"Hey," I said again, "Calm down. I can leave."  
"No," she said shortly.

We heard a car door slam outside.

"I guess it's too late anyway," I said.

Gabriella had jumped up when she got the text from Kelsi. The door burst open and sure enough, in walked Troy, Chad, Jason, Kelsi, and Taylor. They all walked into the living room and froze.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

For the second time the sight of Gabriella and Nick surprised me. Not seeing them together, seeing Nick here on movie night.

"Hey guys," I heard Taylor say, "So you're joining us for movie night, Nick?"

"Uh yeah," he replied, "I guess."  
"So you forgot a movie Kels?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," she replied following Taylor into the living room, "Sorry!"

"No worries," Gabriella said, "What do you guys want to watch?"

"How about some old school Disney?" Taylor suggested.

"Yeah!" Chad exclaimed almost too excitedly.

"I'll put one in and get popcorn," Gabriella laughed.

"I'll get the popcorn," I stated.

Gabriella glanced up at me, "Thanks Troy."

I smiled at her and went off to make it. I knew where she kept the popcorn bags.

"How's the popcorn making coming?"

I looked up as Gabriella entered the kitchen.

"I'm pretty good at making popcorn," I told her.

"Is it possible to be bad at making popcorn?" she asked me smiling.

"My dad always burns it," I grinned.

Gabriella laughed. "I believe that!"

She was now leaning on the counter right next to me.

"Nice shirt," she stated.

I looked down at the shirt I was wearing. Gabriella had received a t-shirt for competing in a Decathlon that was way too big. She had given to me.

"Thanks," I said, "But do you think it makes me look like a nerd?"

Gabriella glared at me, "Very funny, Bolton!"

I laughed grabbing her around the neck to give her a noogie. She slapped me playfully and ran away.

Fifteen minutes later we were all settled down in the living room. This was the most definitely the most awkward I have felt in a long time.

Taylor and Chad had dropped onto the small couch and were wrapped in each others arms. Jason and Kelsi were lying on their backs on the floor and sharing a blanket. Worst of all, Gabriella and Nick were lying across two of the four cushions of the big couch. Nick was sitting against the arm and Gabriella was lying on her side, her back pressed against his stomach. One of their hands were intertwined and Nick's other hand was lying on her upper leg.

I was using one of the two couch cushions so there was one between us. A bowl of popcorn sat on the middle cushion acting as a barrier.

"Gabi," I heard Nick whisper, "I had so much fun tonight, that I think I can handle doing that again sometime."

"Sound good to me," Gabriella quietly replied.

I tried to drown them out my listening to the Aritocats sing, but to me their whispers were like screams in my ears.

"We don't have to go anywhere fancy thought," Nick told her, "Because now I know you look beautiful in anything."

"What kind of place are you thinking?" Gabriella questioned.

"I do love Taco Bell..."

Gabriella giggled. That's what pushed me over the edge. I glanced around. No one else could hear the disgusting conversation going on next to me. I jumped up suddenly and ran to the bathroom as an excuse to leave the room.

**Author's Note**

**Awkwaaaaard!! Anyway, sorry it was so short! But at least Nick's hanging with the gang! And they were getting along so well! Just Kidding! Seriously, the drama kicks in next chapter! I promise! Thanks for reading!!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 "Troy Bolton."**

**Troy's POV  
THURSDAY**

"Mr. Bolton!" Ms. Grey called, "You either have or don't have your paper!"

"Ms. Grey! I swear!" I exclaimed, "I wrote it last week! It has to be here!"

I was rifling through my folders.

"You know I don't take any assignments after the due date," my annoying teacher went on.

"I know!" I almost started shouting but took a deep breath instead.

"Check in your locker and if it's there bring it to me by the end of the day," Grey demanded, "And you better hope it's there. You don't want to get a zero out of fifty."  
The bell rang at the perfect moment and I angrily walked out of the classroom. I started hurrying towards my locker. I had Ms. Cooper next and she's never realize it if I walked into her class late. I heard a sudden out burst of laughing and looked ahead. Gabriella and Nick had just walked into the hallway. They were still very far away. I stared intently at them as we got nearer each other. Nick's arm was wrapped around her waist and he was carrying her books.

From what I could tell Nick had just told a hilarious joke. I really did not want to walk past them. I thought about leaving through the hallway but they turned just in time. I relaxed my fists which I had absentmindedly clenched. I finally reached my locker.

"Hey man!" Chad bounded over to me slapping me on the back.

I let out a huge annoyed sigh.

"What?" I spit at Chad.

"What's up dude?" Chad asked sounding concerned.

"Nothing," I lied calming down, "Sorry man."

"So tonight do you-" Chad never finished his sentence.

I was bumped from behind and had to catch myself as to not hit my locker.

"Sorr-"

"Watch where you're going!" I shouted whipping around.

I grabbed the front of the guy's shirt and slammed him forcefully against the lockers.

"This will teach you to keep your hands off me!" I threatened through clenched teeth. I dropped the kid to the ground and stood above him. His friend stood back. As I swung my first punch at him I realized who it was. Mike Rivi, one of Gabriella's West High best friends. After only two punches I felt Chad pulling me off him.

"Get off!" I seethed, "He deserves it!"

Rivi stood up slowly and spit blood on the ground. I stopped fighting Chad's hold. Without looking back Rivi and the other guy started limping away.

"What have I done...?"

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

"What's going on tonight?" I asked Nick as we walked down the hall.

"Boys night out," he replied, "Sorry."

"It's fine," I said happily, "I'm not about to mess up that tradition!"

He nudged me slightly. I pushed him back. He shoved me. I almost lost balance and fell sideways into a dark classroom.  
"You're lucky there's no one in here!" I laughed.

He came in too.

"Yes I am," he walked towards me and grabbed my waste.

I was grinning back when something caught my eye.

"Nick, look," I demanded.

He turned. In the back of the room, slumped against the wall was what appeared to be a large lump of rags. There were splatters of blood on it. It rolled over slightly.

"Oh my gosh," Nick exclaimed.

My face fell as the thing lifted its head, and we hurried to the back of the room.

"Rivi!" I exclaimed, "Rivi are you ok?"

Nick and I dropped down next to him. His blonde hair was splattered with blood. A bruise was starting above his eye.

"Hey guys," he said, "I'm fine. I just didn't want to be seen in this non-handsome state."

Rivi, he would still be making jokes on his death bed.

I looked into his eyes; I could see hurt but not a single tear even tried to form.

"Who did this to you man?" Nick questioned, "What happened?"  
"Nothing really," Rivi started, "I was walking down the hall with Feroce-"

"Where did he go!?" I cut him off.

"Do you guys seriously think I'm sitting in this classroom because I want to be? You know me! I'd rather be out showing off my battle scars! But no! Feroce, being the mom he is, made me stay here while he went to find you guys."

"Why wouldn't he just call us?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Rivi said sounding bewildered, "It's Feroce."

"So why did someone do this to you?" I urged.

"Right," Rivi went on, "So I'm walking and Feroce trips me. I bump into...someone and they turn around, grab me, and slam me against the locker. Then he threw me down, punched me a couple times before his friend pulled him off me. I didn't do anything."

"That's awful!" I exclaimed, "Who would do that?"

Rivi looked away.

"Who was it dude?" Nick asked.

"Troy Bolton."

A sinking feeling filled my stomach and my insides tightened. My mouth and throat went dry. I didn't want to look at Nick but I knew he was looking at me.

Troy!? Troy beat up Rivi because he touched him!? No way! Troy would never do that! There has to be a mistake! The sensitive, selfless, caring Troy Bolton I know would _never_ do that.

"No," I muttered, "This...it...he wouldn't."

"He did," Rivi said, "Maybe he had another reason..."

I was barely listening. I couldn't get out of the state of shock.

**Author's Note**

**DUNDUN! I know that's probably the opposite of what you wanted to happen between Troy and Gabriella...but hey, maybe it will help out in the end! And I just wanted to say; sorry my Author's Notes are so lame! They're harder to write than the story! After I type the chapter I'm like crap...Author's Note time! lol**

**Thanks to readers...reviewers...all of you...and to my bff Shelby for posting my story's for me!!** (Finally I get **SOME **credit!! C:


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 "We're going to teach you a lesson..."**

**Gabriella's POV  
FRIDAY**

"Two weeks of school down," Kelsi exclaimed as she, Taylor, and I walked out of school together.

"Look there's Troy and Chad," Kelsi pointed out, "Let's go!"

"Did you guys here what Troy did?" I blurted.

"What are you talking about?" Kelsi said stopping in her tracks.

"Oh yeah," Taylor stopped too, "Chad told me. You want to talk about it?"

I nodded. The three of us started walking to the sidewalk and away from East High.

"You don't know what happened?" I asked Kelsi.

"No," she replied sounding concerned, "What did he do?"  
"He punched my friend Rivi couple times for no reason," I explained sadly.

"No way," Kelsi had the same reaction I had, "Are you sure?"

"There's no more to it than that?" Taylor asked.

"How can there be?" I replied.

"Chad told me that Troy was having a really bad day. He even got annoyed with Chad and all Chad did was slap him on the back. Now I'm not saying that's any excuse," Taylor went on, "But Troy didn't punch Rivi because he's from West High."

"It sound to me like Troy would've hit anyone who pushed him," Kelsi stated, "He just had an outburst."

"I just don't understand," I told them holding back tears, "Troy would never do that to someone unless they were hurting someone he cares about."

"Maybe you should talk to Troy," Taylor suggested.

"Yeah," Kelsi added, "Talk to him before you start turning on him.

"I'm not turning on Troy," I assured them, "I still love him like a brother and he's still my best friend. I'm just upset with him for taking his anger out on someone else. Come on, you guys know I can't stay mad at Troy!"

They grinned at me, understanding.

"Well why don't you come with us to the first football game?" Taylor asked me, "We're all going."

"No," I said, "I'm not really in the mood."

"Are you hanging out with Nick tonight?" Kelsi asked smiling.

"No," I explained, "It's guy's night out. They do that once and awhile."

We had just reached my house.

"See ya guys later," I smiled, "Thanks for talking with me."  
"Of course!" Kelsi exclaimed.

"If you change your mind we'll be at the football game," Taylor reminded me.

"Ok," I said, "I'll think about it."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

The only sound in my house was my quiet breathing. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling not knowing what to do. I hadn't changed out of the clothes I had worn to school. I was repeatedly tossing a golf ball I had stolen from Troy in the air. I caught it right before it hit me and threw it again. A car door slamming in my driveway broke the silence.

I jumped off my bed and peered out the window. My mom had gotten home from work early. I tossed the ball onto my bed and ran downstairs.

"Hey mom," I greeted her as she came through the front door.

"Gabi!" she exclaimed, "I didn't expect you to be here!"

"I'll be home all night actually," I explained.

"I'm afraid I won't be," my mom said her smile fading, "I came home early to pack."

"Pack? For what?" I asked confused, "We're not..."

"No honey!" my mom promised, "We're not moving! I just have a business trip. I'm afraid I won't be back till late Monday night."

"Oh," I said slightly disappointed, "I'll find something to entertain myself."  
"Don't be afraid to have friends over while I'm gone," mom said, "I don't like you being in this house all alone all weekend."

"I'll find someone to hang with," I assured her, "But I think tonight I'm gonna go to the football game."  
"Ok honey," my mom said, "Have fun and I'll see you Monday."  
"Bye mom," I said as we hugged tightly.

I then slipped on my shoes and ran out to my car. Ten minutes later I had parked and was walking into the stadium. The entrance led right in to under one side of the bleachers. There were people of all ages walking around. I could smell hot dogs and heard the cheers and jeers from the crowd. I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone but before I could I heard someone shouting my name.

"Montez!" a guy's voice called.

I looked up expecting to see one of my friends. Instead I saw three West High guys I didn't know, hurrying towards me.

"We're going to teach you a lesson for being a traitor!" one guy growled at me.

"What are talking about?" I tried to back up but one of them was behind me.

I looked around frantically for a place to run. I made to move but a fist from nowhere slammed into my stomach knocking the air out of me. I gasped for breath as lights popped in my eyes. I straightened up as another fist flew at my face. They shoved me around between them. My whole body ached. I felt a fist slam into my side. It hurt insanely bad. Something hard made contact with the whole side of my body. It took me a second to realize I had hit the ground. My eyes were half closed and blurred from sweat and blood. The blood was all I could taste and smell. I cringed as a foot flew towards me...but the kick never came. I lay motionless on the ground for at least a minute. The sound was muffled but I could hear screams of rage. I couldn't tell what was going on. I was fighting to keep my eyes alert. The last thing I remember is a pair of warm strong arms wrapping around me, carefully picking me up off the ground. I let my eyes close, knowing I was safe, and went out cold.

**Author's Note**

**Sorry! lol It had to happen! I want **_**you**_** to tell me...Who is Gabriella's rescuer? It could be anyone, but I want to know your guess! Well, once again I don't know what else to say so uh...thanks and bye...!**

- Shelby here!! I just wanna say that this chapter would have come much earlier if someone (coughROSIEcoughcough)sent it to me correctly... oh well, I enjoyed this chapter!!... but then again i know whats the out come of all of this is... Oh the greatness of being me evil smile anyway, I love reading reviews so click that grayish purpleish button on the left hand corner of the screen, yes that one, I know you see it, click it and send some reviews... Thanks for reading!!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 "It's my fault

**Chapter 13 "It's my fault..."**

**Gabriella's POV**

I could see nothing. Darkness was still all around me, pressing down from all sides. But suddenly a soft voice was whispering in my ear. I heard the quiet singing but couldn't make out what it was saying. I knew that voice.

My eyes flashed open. All I could see was the perfect face of Troy Bolton smiling down on me.

"Troy," I mumbled.

"Sshh," his soothing voice spoke, "Just relax. You're at home on your couch. It's Friday night and everything's going to be fine."

I tried to move but a sharp pain coursed through my body. I ached all over and felt as if I was being stabbed in the stomach. My eyes closed due to the pain and I took a deep breath. I felt Troy's hand squeeze mine and I forced my eyes open.

"Are you ok?" he asked gently, "I cleaned off the cuts as well as I could. I would've taken you to the hospital but I had to carry you here, I don't have my car. And I can't see any life threatening injuries but you should still see a doctor."

"No," Gabriella demanded, "I don't want a doctor. I trust you."

Troy smiled at me, sympathetically.

I thought back to earlier that night. I remembered walking into the stadium, but how had I gotten hurt?

"What...what happened?" I asked the obvious question.

Troy took a deep breath, "Are you sure you want to hear that story now?"

I nodded.

"Well, I didn't see the whole thing, but some witnesses filled me in. I guess you waked into the stadium and you were still under the bleachers. You were there mere seconds when a guy called your name."  
"Yeah," I agreed nodding, "I remember that. There were three of them."

"Yeah," Troy went on, "They told you they were gonna teach you a lesson for being a traitor...they, they cornered you."  
I could tell Troy was having a really hard time telling me the story. It even sounded like he was choking up a bit.

"They were beating you up for about a minutes when I walked by. I ran over and...I grabbed one as he was about to kick you so I started beating him. Then..."

Troy broke off looking way. He rubbed his hand, frustrated, over his face.

"I should've been there! I should've gotten to them before they caused this much damage!" Troy exclaimed.

"Troy," I said slowly, "You saved me. They would've beaten me all the way to the hospital if you hadn't stopped them."

I paused letting the words sink in before continuing quietly.

"I knew it was you, you know," Troy looked up at me seeming shocked, "I felt your arms around me and only then knew it was safe to let go. I forced myself to stay conscious until I felt safe."

I felt another sharp pain and had to stop talking. It hurt too much to talk for too long.

"It's my fault," Troy stated as if finalizing it.

"Troy!" I called, "Don't be stupid! How in the heck is this your fault!?"

"I shouldn't have hit Rivi," he said calmly, "If I hadn't taken my anger out on him and you wouldn't have had a reason to be upset with me. Then you would've just gone to the football game with us to start with."

I closed my eyes slowly. This was my fault. I was causing Troy pain because I had chosen not to go with them to the game. Troy has every right to be angry. How can I blame him for taking it out on someone? He had kept it all bottled up because I wasn't there for him to talk to, and he exploded.

"Troy," I said again quietly, "I'm sorry for being upset when you hit Rivi. I have no right to treat you like that. I just don't understand why you did it."  
"It's ok," Troy said staying calmly, looking at me again, "You have nothing to be sorry for. I was having a bad day but that's no excuse to take my anger out on an innocent guy who happened to bump into me."

"What do you mean he bumped into you?" I questioned.

He tripped and hit me into my locker."

"You wanna tell me the story from your point of view?" I urged.

Troy nodded and started his second story.

"I was in Ms. Grey's class and couldn't find the paper that was due. She told me like five times how important it was. So the bell rang and I went to my locker. I saw you and ...and Nick in the hallway and I was upset because I...I missed you."

Troy looked down at his hands.

"Go on," I said smiling in spite of myself.

"Then Chad slapped me on the back and I was just annoyed in general. I still couldn't find my paper. So when Rivi bumped me into the lockers I whipped around, slammed him into the lockers, then hit him once or twice. I don't know what came over me, but I'm sorry."

Troy looked back up at me and I stared into his ocean blue eyes.

"Did you ever find the paper?"

A grin slid across both of our faces.

"Stupid Grey had it the whole time!" Troy replied.

"But seriously Troy," I said, "It's ok. And Rivi forgives you."  
We stared at each other, smiling slightly, for a few minutes.

"Well," Troy said speaking in a normal voice again, "You should actually be resting. So don't mind me and try to sleep."

"Ok," I smiled, "It would help if you sang to me."

Troy's grin grew, "Ok."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV  
**

I knew Gabriella wouldn't be happy until I sang a song, but by the time I thought of one to sing she was in a peaceful sleep. I sat holding her hand and eventually drifted off to sleep too.

I awoke with a jerk as my head dropped. I pulled out my phone to check the time, 11:30.

"I better take you to your bed," I whispered to the sleeping Gabriella.

She stirred slightly as I wrapped my arms around her and carried her thorough the silent house to her bed.

"Troy?" she mumbled for the second time that night.

"Sssh," I repeated pulling the sheets up around her, "Goodnight Gabs. You're safe now."

I kissed her forehead quickly, then slowly walked towards the door. I grabbed the door knob and as I slowly pulled the door shut I heard Gabriella mumbling. I figured she was dreaming and I couldn't make out what she was saying. But right as the door closed I heard a soft mumble...

"I love you."

**Author's Note**

**Finally the moment you've been waiting for!! But wait...how do you know she wasn't dreaming!? You don't, and you're gonna have to wait a chapter or so to find out!**

**I have to say sorry too, because I've just recently realized that my chapters are kind of short! I'm really sorry for that, but that makes me want to update faster! I hope the chapters are good enough to make up for their shortness!**

**You know what I struggled with this chapter? The right way to spell Sssh.**

**Is it a couple s's and one h**

**or one S and a couple h's**

**or a couple of both...**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed! I'll update ASAP!!**

_-- Yay! im happy!! Now, i think im in the mood for some reviews, because when my inbox isnt filled with them, i feel sad, and i really dont want to be sad. SO! send them up!! thanks --Shelby_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 "Not just any toast!"**

**Nick's POV  
**

I ran up from my car to Gabriella's front door. Gabriella had been hurt nearly 12 hours ago and I had only just been told exactly what happened and where to find her. I knocked anxiously on the door. What was taking her mom so long? The door opened suddenly as I was about to knock again.

"Hi Mrs. Mon-"

I stopped in mid-sentence. Troy Bolton was standing in front of me.

"Mrs. Montez is on a business trip," Troy explained opening the door wider to let me in, "But I've been taking care of her."

I didn't know if I should feel jealous, angry, or glad that troy had stayed over to take care of my girlfriend. I wanted to feel jealous, but I didn't.

"Where is she?" I questioned.

"In her room," he told me, "Go ahead up. She just woke up."

I hurried up the stairs and went straight to her room. I pushed open the door slowly and crept over to her bed.

"Gabi," I whispered, "Hey, it's me."

Gabriella opened her eyes and looked over at me.

"Nick!" she exclaimed louder than I expected, "Hey. I'm glad you're here!"  
I smiled and leaned down to hug her. I squeezed her lightly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," I told her pulling away, "I should've been there for you. I'm supposed to keep you safe!"

"Nick," Gabriella said quietly, "Stop it. This isn't your fault!"

"Yeah it-"

"Stop!" she cut me off, "Troy already tried to tell me this was his fault! Don't you dare make me argue about whose fault this is again!"

"I'm sorry Gabi," I went on, "But I'll make up for it! I'm going find the guys who did this to you, and make them pay!"

"No!" she exclaimed.

I looked up at her, surprised.

"Gabriella, these guys-"

"Have already caused enough damage," she cut me off again, "Let's just let it go."

"Ok," I said quietly, amazed at how forgiven Gabi is.

She smiled at me right as her cell phone started ringing.

"Do you want it?" I asked.

"Check who it is."

I reached to her dresser where her phone was lying and glanced at the picture on the screen.

"It's Taylor," I told her.

She reached for her phone greedily. As she answered I got up, knowing what I needed to do. I moved out of the room and down the stairs. I found Troy in the kitchen.

"Hey," I said to announce my presence.

"What's wrong," Troy whipped around looking nervous.

"Nothing," I said, "Gabriella just got a call."

Relief washed over Troy's face and he went back to the food he was making.

"I just," I started, "I have to say thank you."

Troy turned again, and stood facing me.

"For what?"

"You saved her," I explained, "You did what I should've done."

"No need to thank me," Troy said pulling a tray out of a cabinet, "I did it for...Gabriella."

He seemed out of it, especially when he said Gabriella's name. He seemed to be thinking.

I stared at him, not sure what to think as he placed two pieces of toast, a bowl of cinnamon, a glass of chocolate milk, and an apple on the tray.

Without another word he walked upstairs. I followed but stopped in the doorway to watch.

"Miss Montez," Troy said smiling, "I have brought you a gourmet breakfast."

"Toast and chocolate milk!" she exclaimed, seriously excited.

"Not just any toast," Troy continued in his business voice, "Cinnamon toast!"

Gabriella pushed herself up in bed and Troy set the tray on her lap.

"Why thank you Mr. Bolton!" she said grinning.

Troy picked up her hand and kissed it before sitting down in the computer chair which was setting next to her bed.

"How are you feeling today?" Troy asked, now serious.

"A lot better," she replied, "My side still hurts when I move quickly or something and my head throbs if I sit up to fast, but other than that I'm great!"

"Well you better heal quickly because the first Wildcat basketball game is in two weeks!" Troy explained.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow," Gabriella said in a 'cooome ooon' kind of voice, "But I don't know if I can wait two weeks!"

"You're telling me," he laughed, "The other day..."

I zoned out from what they were saying. I just sat and watched them interact. I saw Troy stand up and do some weird impersonation causing Gabriella to laugh hysterically. She then grabbed her side in pain and Troy sat down looking depressed so she wouldn't laugh. That made her laugh harder.

How I had I not seen it before? How have I never noticed the connection between Gabriella and Troy? I noticed the way they looked at each other and again I didn't feel jealous. I thought of the difference between how they were looking at each other and how Gabriella and I look at each other. What is the difference? I racked my brain trying to answer that question...

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Chad's POV**

"Do you think we should go see her?" Kelsi asked.

"I just called her on my way here," Taylor said, "She promised me she's fine."

Kelsi, Taylor, Jason, and I had just met up at the courts to hang out.

"We could still go see her," Kelsi stated.

"Nah," I chimed in, "Let Troy make his move!'

"What do you mean make his move? Gabriella's with Nick and Troy's fine with that," Taylor contradicted.

Jason and I looked at each other raising our eyebrows.

"They say guys are the ones that never see the signs," Jason stated.

"I know, what's up with that?" I questioned starting to dribble, "I say we go see Gabriella, but not until later."  
"Ok," Taylor agreed obviously still thinking about what I said.

**Author's Note**

**THANK YOU so much for all the AMAZING reviews! You guys are the greatest readers ever!! So what do you guys think the difference is between Troy/Gabriella and Nick/Gabriella? I want to know what you think over the next few chapters until I tell you...well actually I think I might tell you next chapter...I can't remember! Anyway tell me what YOU think!  
The end of this chapter was a little random...it was pretty much just to show you they're still alive because they haven't been in here for awhile! **

**Thanks again! Please review! You're reviews make me want to update ASAP!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 "I love you like a..."**

**Nick's POV  
SUNDAY**

I sat on a stool in my kitchen absentmindedly eating chips that had been left in a bowl on the counter. I was staring at the opposite wall waiting for my brother to come home. I couldn't tell you why I wanted him to come home. The only reason I could think of was so I wasn't alone with my thoughts. I broke out of my stare to glance at the clock. Terry was usually home at 11:00 AM and it was already 15 after. As if wishing it made it happen, I heard Terry's loud car pull into our driveway. I waited silently as he slammed his car door, opened the front door, and walked, smiling widely, into the kitchen.

"Hey little brother," he said, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," I lied, "Where've you been all day?"

"I got held up at work," Terry replied pouring himself a drink, "But I could ask you the same thing. Why were you gone all day yesterday?"  
"Come on Terry," I said looking away, "You know I was at...Gabriella's."  
Terry looked at me quizzically.

"Why so hesitant to say Gabriella's name?" he questioned, "Did something happen between you two?"

"Not really," I replied lamely.

"Ok, tell me what's up," Terry demanded sliding onto a stool.

I took a deep breath before beginning to explain what had been on my mind all day.

"We're just...we're not the same anymore," I started, "Gabriella and I. I don't feel it anymore. I mean, when we went to West High we had this connection that I can't explain. I don't mean to sound weird, but it was like a spark- kinda- thing...you know?"

I ended awkwardly and looked up at Terry.

"It's possible that after being apart for so long you lost some of what you had," Terry suggested, "Maybe when you saw each other again you thought you could pick up right where you left off. But now that the initial shock of seeing each other again has worn off you realize you've grown apart."

I thought about what he said, but something still didn't make sense.

"But," I started quietly, "I...I still was so scared when I knew she got hurt and the thought of losing her was awful."

"There's more than one way to love someone," Terry reminded me, "How about some ice cream to make you feel better?"

I looked up at him raising my eyebrows.

"What?" he asked sounded confused.

"Am I a girl?"

Terry shrugged and mumbled something that sounded like, "Well it works."  
I rolled my eyes grinning, but only for a second. I knew what I had to do. I walked to my room slowly and tossed my phone onto my bed. I stared at it as if it was going to make the call for me. I reached for it, but then pulled back at the last second. I couldn't do it. I turned around in a circle, frustrated. I took a deep breath, flopped onto my bed, and flipped open the phone.

"Ugh!" I exclaimed in frustration closing the phone and quickly tossing it towards my pillows.

I stared at it for a few more second then quickly shoved it under my pillow and out of my sight. I stood up and closed my eyes letting out a breath. A loud buzzing sound made me jump. Gabriella was calling. She had saved me from having to call her, but I still had to say what I had to say.

I grabbed my phone and stared at it for a couple seconds before opening it and nervously saying, "Hello?"

"Nick hey," Gabriella's cheerful voice said, "Dr. Troy says I can move about today! I need to see you."

"Y-yeah," I said, "I need to see you too. Let's meet at that bench on Shamrock Street."

"Where we – shared our first kiss?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh yeah," I hadn't thought of that.

"Nick," she suddenly sounded anxious instead of cheerful, "I think we should meet now."

"I'll see you in 10 minutes."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

I hurried out of my car and to the bench where Nick and I were meeting. He hadn't arrived yet so I sat down and waited. I was actually relieved that he wasn't there yet. The car ride here hadn't given me enough time to think.

I've never before been confused about my feelings. Now I couldn't sort out love from hate and anger from happiness. How am I supposed to understand all the different kinds of love inside of me? I thought of Nick and tried to let feelings come to me, but...

"Hey there."

I jumped in surprise.

"Hey Nick," I managed a smile as I stood up, "You scared me."

"Sorry Gabi," he smiled back.

We looked at each other sharing our first awkward moment.

"Nick I – I've been really confused these last few days," I started, "I've been feeling a lot of different things."

I paused hoping he'd say something. I was about to go on when he spoke.

"Have any of the feelings you've been feeling been doubt?" he asked, "Doubt that we...that we're not supposed to be?"

I looked up at him, already feeling tears, stinging in my eyes.

"I don't know Nick. I just, I feel like...when we're kissing I feel...weird."

Once again Nick said nothing.

"But then, I still love you," I barely choked out.

Nick let out a breath looking away. I knew tears had sprung to his eyes.

"Nick please talk to me," I cried, "Do you know how I feel?"

He looked at me but remained silent for a moment.

"Yeah," he finally breathed, "I didn't feel jealous when Troy was staying at your house...and that scares me."

I let out a sob at the sound of Troy's name."

"But I still feel love for you too," Nick finished.

Now it was my turn to look away to cry.

My heart ached. That pain was worse than any of the pain those three guys had caused. It was harder to talk now, because we both knew what was coming.

I thought of troy and a whole different feeling of love washed over me.

"I get it now," I said taking quick breaths due to my crying.

"What are ya talking about?" Nick said crying. _(he's so girly... but I love him haha -shelby)_

The sight of his tears caused me more pain, but I have to do this.

"You're like my brother," I explained, "I love you like a brother. I can't imagine life without you, but the thought of you being my boyfriend is-"

I broke off trying to control myself.

"The thought of you being my girlfriend is weird," Nick finished quietly, "Kissing you would definitely feel like kissing my sister."

There was another pause where we both just cried.

"Nick," I finally said, "I still want to be best friends. Let's not let anything change."

"Of course not," he breathed out, "Come here."  
I stepped over to him and we embraced each other tightly. I cried onto his shoulder letting the pain take over

I pulled away and looked into his face.

"Thank you for understanding," my voice was barely audible.

"I felt the same way Gabi," he said, "Thank _you_ for understanding."

"Goodbye Nick."

"But see ya soon."

I smiled before turning and walking quickly. My hand was on my car door handle when I heard Nick calling my name. I turned around.

"We're over," he said, "It's official so don't feel bad...move on."

I couldn't bring myself to thank him. A whole new set of sobs took over me. To onlookers what he said may have sounded rude, but I understand. Those few words meant so much to me. I wanted to scream thank you and tell him how much that meant, but I just nodded and got into my car.

For the second time in my life I found myself crying and driving away from Nicholas Despotakis.

But this time my tears were turning from sad tears...to tears of joy.

This time I wasn't driving towards a whole new town...but towards someone I knew very well.

This time I wasn't feeling nervous and mad...but excited and happy.

This time Nick wasn't torn up that I was pulling away...he was relieved.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Nick's POV**

"I'm back!" I called walking back into my house.

"Nick!" I looked up suddenly. Coming out of my kitchen was Rivi, Bobby, and Feroce.

"Hey guys," I said, shocked, "What are you doing here?"

"We came to keep you happy!" Rivi exclaimed in a weird voice.

"So...you know?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah man," Bobby said, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm good," I answered honestly, "Let's go upstairs."

The guys followed me to my room. We all dropped onto the floor, bed, or a chair.

"So how'd she take it?" Rivi asked.

"Well," I said, "I didn't really break up with her; we just kind of agreed to break up. You know? She would've broken up with me anyway."

"That's good though right?" Feroce asked.

"Yeah," I agreed, "Cause we both needed to do it. Neither of us had to break the others heart."

I barely realized I started rambling. The guys just let me talk.

"You know, I never thought I'd break up with her. Never have I thought we'd fall out of love. But now we did, and I feel better. I feel relieved. I mean of course it's sad and I'm upset, but unlike last time I promise I won't turn into a jerk."

We all grinned remembering some things I had done last time Gabriella broke up with me.

"You were more than a jerk!" Rivi laughed, "You were a freakin monster!"

"Oh come on!" I exclaimed, "It only lasted like a week!"

"Actually I think it was a month," Feroce stated, completely serious.

We all stopped laughing and looked at him.

"Does it really matter?" I asked.

Feroce shrugged and mumbled, "Just sayin."  
"But anyway guys," I continued, "We're still going to be best friends with her."

"I think," Bobby said, "We better try to become friends with the Wildcat friends."

I nodded and started thinking of Troy.

"We could probably do that," I decided.

"I'm pretty sure it's basketball time," Rivi said casually.

We all grinned and at the same time jumped off and started racing towards my court.

**Author's Note**

**Oh the break ups so sad! Well maybe not this one! So many of you were right with the love question thing I asked! They have a sibling love...you got to admit that'd be weird! **

**Anyway, thanks for all the sweet the reviews and please keep them coming!! **

_Ok, I have been thinking bout this for a while, but seriously is it just me or do you think guys really don't talk like this... to me its just funny and awakward to think of a bunch of guys sitting there remenising about a girl and stuff... idk just me i guess!! I just thought it was kinda funny. But anyway. I loved this chapter!! anyone with me?? If you like this chapter i say u review, because who doesnt like gabi breaking up w/ someone to realize she's in love with Troy?? **ok send reviews!!**_ -shelby


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Gabriella's POV**

**SUNDAY  
**

I had got back from my break up with Nick a couple hours ago and Troy was gone when I came home. I lay on my porch swing on Sunday afternoon. It was on the back porch facing our piece of yard. No one would be able to see me unless my neighbors walked into their yard. The only sound was the flowing of the creek that was at the back of my yard. It along with a large row of pine trees separated our house from the street behind us. I was reading a book, but my eyes were barely moving. My mind had once again drifted to someone else. It was as if I could hear his voice in my head. I heard him calling my name softly.

"Troy!" I exclaimed sitting up.

"Gabs is that you?" I heard him call.

It hadn't been my imagination at all.

"I'm on the back porch!" I sat up as Troy walked around the house grinning.

"Hey," he aid standing on the top step.

I walked towards him and stood leaning against the railings.

"What are you doing here?" I asked smiling.

"Just came to check up on you and ask how you're feeling," he said happily, "I'm not interrupting am I?" he continued seriously, "Is Nick here?"

A frown instantly took over my face.

"We broke up this morning," I said quietly.

Concern and caring flashed on Troy's face. He reached out and placed his hands lightly on my shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Gabs," he said truthfully, "I had no idea.'

"It's ok," I replied with just as much truth.

I looked up into his worried face and smiled.

"It was for the best," I explained, "We...we both realized our love was more like sibling love. You know?"

"Of course I know," Troy replied, "How are you?"

I knew Troy meant my feeling and not physically.

"Surprisingly, I'm fine," I tried not to drown in Troy's ocean eyes, "It's really better this way. You shouldn't be dating one person when you l-"

I broke off realizing what I almost said.

"When you love them like a brother," I covered.

"Gabs," Troy looked at me seriously, "You s-said something when you were hurt."

A wave of nervousness washed over me. It has to be something else! He can't have heard!  
"At the time I thought you were having a dream," he went on, "But to me it sounded like...like I love you."

I thought about telling him it was a dream. I thought about acting surprised and pretending hadn't said that. But I looked into his eye. I could always read Troy through his eyes. He was feeling nervous and hopeful. I watched him nervously lick his lips and felt such a longing to join in...I just couldn't lie.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," I mumbled grinning.

Troy blinked slowly and opened his arms wide. I flung myself into his arms. He stroked my head and we held each other tighter than I thought possible. I hat been waiting for this moment for longer than I knew.

"Yes, Troy," I said choking up due to happiness, "I do love you."

Troy pulled me away slightly to look into my face. He still held my head and my hands were pressed against his stomach.

"I love you Gabs," he said quietly before screaming into the sky, "I love you!"  
I laughed happily.

"God it feels so good to say that!" he grinned.

Without another word we leaned for each other. Our lips met softly. I thought it only happened in movies, but I felt the connection between us. Chills ran over every inch of my body. The kiss was desperate but soft and warm. It was just how a perfect kiss should be. As Troy pulled me closer so our bodies pressed together, my hands tangled in his hair. His hands were locked around my waist and resting on my lower back. We broke the kiss for a quick breath but instantly came together again, now straight up making out.

When we finally broke apart I dropped my head onto his shoulder and we continued to hold each other. I took in every detail of the moment and inhaled his scent deeply.

"Mmmm," I mumbled into his neck, "You smell good."

"You taste good," he replied seriously.

I laughed and pulled back to look at him.

"You know," I said, "Even thought I told you, you don't when we were watching Hairspray, you _do_ look like Zac Efron."

"I thought you said that he's hot," Troy smiled.

I shrugged, trying not to smile, and walked away back to my porch swing. We sat down and laid in each others arms.

Dusk began to set and we just sat happily with each other. We talked and laughed with each other.

"You know how long I've been waiting for this?" Troy asked after awhile.

"I didn't realize how much I wanted this until it happened, "I replied.

"Gabs," He went on, "Are you sure you want to go right into this? I mean you just came out of the relationship with Nick and-"

"Troy," I cut him off, "I wouldn't have sat here in your arms for the last three hours if I wasn't sure."

Troy grinned and kissed my head, "I love you."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

"Bolton! Montez!"

Just as I had again told Gabriella I love her we heard Jason calling our names. We moved to stand up but Jason came around the house followed by Chad, Kelsi, and Taylor.

"Hey guys," I smiled as Gabriella and I stood up.

Everyone said hello and asked how Gabriella is doing. She claims to be perfect.

"Gabriella!" Taylor exclaimed suddenly, "Come here! Kelsi and I have to talk to you!"

I watched the three of them hurried off to the middle of her yard, sit in a circle, and started gossiping.

"So you finally did it," Jason said.

I looked at him and Chad who had walked onto the porch and too were leaning on the railings.

"You finally made your move," Chad added.

"Actually," I grinned, "I think she made the move."

"No way!" they exclaimed making us all laugh.

"Well she broke up with Nick," I started.

"Aaaah," Chad said in a curious and intrigued voice, "What was her reason?"

"The loved each other more like siblings," I answered seriously.

"Hmm," Chad said as though he was impressed, "Not bad."

"Oh come on," I said, "Leave her alone!"

"Come on Troy," Jason replied, "Like she wasn't all over you,"

I rolled my eyes and smiled in spite of myself.

"You know we're just kidding," Chad said slapping my shoulder, "Now let's go pick on the girls."  
We jumped off the porch and ran to the girls. They screamed and jumped up as we charged at them.

I grabbed Gabriella and picked her up.

"What are you dong?" she exclaimed flailing in my arms.

"Oh nothing!" I jogged towards the creek and before she could do anything, put her in it.

She screamed in shock, but then started laughing hysterically. Next thing I knew mud was flying at me and landed on my chest.

Within a minute we were all soaked, muddy and having fun.

All our friends were in the crick between Gabriella and me. We caught each others eyes and grinned hugely.

I was finally hers.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

I was lying on my bed on Tuesday night with my journal wide open in front of me and a purple pen in my hand. Troy and I had only been dating two days of school, but everyone knew. Word gets around fast at East High. People were congratulating us constantly. It was kind of funny how everyone seemed to be expecting it. Everything was still the same between with my West High friends. Nothing had changed.

'That's Just the Way We Roll' rang through my room. I was already smiling as I reached for my cell phone and flipped it open.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabi!" Troy sang a ridiculous opera note for at least a minute.

"Troooooooooooooooooooy!" I sang back in the deepest voice I could.

Troy and I both started laughing. I rolled over on to my back and stared at my ceiling. I could picture Troy pacing his room and grinning.

"What's up Troy?" I asked casually.

"I was bored," he replied.

"I can fix that," I said.

"How'd your mom take the news?" Troy asked.

"Oh gosh," I replied," Jut like everyone else!"

Troy laughed understanding.

"Let me guess," he said, "She said, 'Oh Gabi! That's great! I always knew that would happen!' And then she asked for the whole story about Nick and me."

"Wow," I laughed, "Almost word for word!"

It seemed I was always laughing lately. You just can't help when Troy's around.

We continued talking and sharing stories for an hour. At 6:00 I heard my mom call me for dinner.

"Troy," I whined, "I gotta go to dinner!"

"Jerk," he replied shortly.

I ignored him.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow!" I exclaimed.

"Bye Gabs. Love you."

I paused to savor the moment.

"I love you too. Bye Troy."

"Wait!" he shouted, "I almost forgot the reason I called! Friday night I'm taking you on a traditional date.

"Traditional date?" I questioned grinning.

"Yes," he replied, "Dinner, movies, you know."

"Can't wait!" I told him.

"Bye Gabs."

I hung up the phone and dropped it on my bed.

"Coming mom!" I called before dropping skipping happily out of my room.

**Author's Note**

**YAY! YAY! yeahyeahyeah! lol Yes, I'm as happy as you are! You are happy right? Just kidding! I really hope their first togetherness scenes were what you had hoped for and more!**

**And in case you were wondering, yes...I realize how many times people say "You know?" in my story! lol I think I do that a lot in person too.**

**One more thing, I hope nobody minds the weird things I have the groups of friends do! I just do things I would do and I think would be fun! I mean who wouldn't want to run in rain, get in a food fight, get in a mud fight, run around the park, sing long weird notes to their friends, etc! lol**

**Hope you liked it! Please review! Thanks! You guys are great!**


	17. Chapter 17

**DISCLAIMER: We own nothing! We really wish we did but we dont. so don't do anything to us. We do own the ideas of the west high boys. But we only own the idea of them.. the people they were based off of are real, and to much of our dismay we do not own them either!!**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Gabriella's POV  
FRIDAY  
**

"Hey honey."

I turned around to see my mom standing in my bedroom doorway.

"Hey mom," I breathed through my frustration.

"What's wrong?" my mom asked walking further into my room.

"I don't know what to wear," I admitted.

"What's wrong with what you have on?" my mom questioned.

I looked down at what I was wearing: straight leg jeans and an exotic printed shirt that was tight at the top and loose at the bottom.

"I don't feel dressed up enough," I told her, "What if we go somewhere nice?"

"Gabriella," my mom reasoned, "It's only Troy. He's not going to care what you wear."

A smile spread across my face, she was right.

"Ok," I let out a breath, "How about this?"

I reached in my closet and pulled out a pink plaid skirt that was just above my knees. I grabbed a light pink cami and a short sleeve, plain, v-neck, white shirt.

"And," I added slipping on my shoes, "White flats."

"Perfect," my mom smiled, "And just in time."

As I let down my curls I looked where my mom was pointing. I saw Troy pulling into the driveway through my window.

I watched him wipe his hands and take a deep breath before knocking. I smiled and ran down the steps.

"Are you nervous Mr. Bolton?" I asked in an English accent as I opened the door.

"Are you stalking me Miss. Montez?" he replied.

"No, I saw you from my window!"

We both laughed as he grabbed me in a hug. My mom came down the stairs as we let go.

"Hi Mrs. Montez," Troy greeted.

"Hi Troy," she smiled at us, "Now don't waste your time here! Get going and have fun!"

We said goodbye and Troy led me to the car. He pulled out and we started off. I instantly took over his radio controls. I left the volume kind of quiet so we could still talk. Fifteen minutes into the ride we fell silent. 'When You Look Me in the Eyes' by the Jonas Brothers came on the radio and Troy started singing quietly. I could tell he wasn't even thinking about it. I lay back in the seat and closed my eyes to listen. After a few minutes the song picked up suddenly. I sat up quickly and started singing loudly. Troy and grinned and started singing louder than me. I started singing obnoxiously and soon we were both singing as weird, loud, and obnoxious as we could. The song ended and Troy and I looked at each other smiling.

"God I love you Gabs!" he shouted very casually, turning back to the road.

Happiness bubbled inside of me and I let out a squeal of glee. Troy looked at me like I had five heads.

"Shut up," I laughed smacking him.

"Hey," he said defensively, "I didn't say anything."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

"So what do you think?" I asked.

We were sitting in a normal restaurant and the waiter had just set a big plate of chicken wings in front us of.

"No – way," Gabriella said slowly, eyes wide in shock, "I _love_ chicken wings!"

"I know you do," I grinned, "That's why we're here."

"This is amazing Troy," she said seriously.

"I thought you' like it," I told her.

I watched as she grabbed the first wing and took a huge bite out of it, she spread sauce all over her face while doing so. I laughed, amazed at her huge bite.

"So how is everything with your West High friends?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah," she replied cheerfully, "But I do kind of wish Nick could tell you that."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"I don't know," she said looking at me, "It's just...it's hard sometimes to be split between you guys. It's hard to have two groups of friends that hate each other."

"Hey," I said looking at her seriously, "I don't hate them. They just come with the whole West High thing. But, Gabs, you have to know that if it means that much to you I'll give them a chance."

She smiled slightly, "You mean that?"

"Of course I do," I said sitting back in my seat and grabbing a wing.

"It _would_ mean a lot to me," she admitted quietly.

"Then you can consider Nick my best friend," I told her.

"Thanks Troy."

We just looked at each other for a few moments before she spoke again.

"Where are we going next?"

"Well there's this park I can get into," I started, "It's got basketball courts, tether ball courts, a pool.  
With everything I said Gabriella got more and more excited.

"And we can get in!?" she exclaimed, "Won't it be closed?"

"Not if you're in with the owners," I said slyly.

"Who are owners?" she asked curiously.

"The same people that own the ice cream place!"

She laughed again, "It sounds acceptable."

"Acceptable?" I asked, fake shocked.

"Well yes," she joked, "I'll have to see the place before I rate this date."

"All I can say is, when you're rating this date," I told her, "Remember your stomach is full of amazing chicken wings!"

"That's definitely a plus," she laughed.

Thirty minutes later we were back in the car. The park I was taking her too was only a minute away. When we got there everything seemed to be good. The place was completely empty, it was starting to get dark, and the gate was unlocked.

Gabriella and I hurried in holding hands. She started running and I had to chase her. She ran to the edge of the pool. I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her from behind.

"Let's go in," she said quietly.

"You don't have to tell me twice," I replied and pushed her forward.

In the next second we had ruined the calm water. It looked as if we had smashed a huge sheet of glass. I swam away but Gabriella splashed after me. I felt her latch onto my foot and almost lost balance. I reached down and grabbed her around the waist. She squirmed around but I held on and pulled her up to face me. She relaxed as I kissed her head.

"Bolton," she whispered, "You and me in a tether ball challenge. Now!"

We swam together to the edge of the pool and raced to the tether ball court.

"I get to start because I'm sweeter, I told her.

She rolled her eyes, "Ok. I understand you need a head start."

We played two games and of course we both won one.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

"Oh!" I exclaimed, "I beat you! I beat you! I won! Yeah! Oh yeah!"

I danced all around after our third tether ball game. Troy just stood shaking his head and grinning.

"What's my prize?" I asked stopping in front of him.

"How about this for a prize?" he asked, "I take you back to my house; give you some dry clothes, and let you sped a couple more hours with me."

"Mmmm," I said leaning my forehead against his, "Fair enough."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

Troy and I walked hand in hand into his silent house. It was 11:30 and his parents had already gone to bed. Both of us were still soaking wet so he led me straight to the bathroom. He handed me a towel and we both started drying off.

"Follow me," Troy demanded.

He led me to his room and started pulling clothes out of his drawers. He threw a Wildcat t-shirt to me and then a gray hoodie with _Bolton, 14_ on the back, and the words _Wildcat Basketball_ on the front. He moved to the other drawer to throw me a pair of gray sweatpants.

"I'll meet you downstairs," he grinned carrying out dry clothes for himself.

I slowly started changing into Troy's clothes. For the second time I was loving his sweat clothes. They were soft and warm and smelt, of course, just like Troy. I pulled the hair tie of my wrist and put my hair up in a loose bun. As I slipped on the sweatpants I head the bathroom door open and ran out to jump on Troy's back.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed steadying himself.

"Come on! Let's move! Move! Move!" I exclaimed.

He ran down the steps and through his kitchen before dropping me onto the couch. I curled my finger at him so he would come onto the couch too. I sat Indian style on one side of the couch and he leaned his back against the other arm of the couch so our feet were touching slightly.

"Ok," Troy said, "Secret time!"

"What?" I said laughing at his little boy excitement.

"Tell me something I don't know about you," he demanded.

"I don't know if that's possible!" I said grinning, "You know everything about me!"

"Ok, I'll start," he said, "I have this computer game for 10 year old boys called Croc 2...and I love it!"

I laughed loudly, "Croc 2!?"

"Hey!" he said, "Don't judge it before you see it! And it's your turn!"

"Ok, ok," I said thinking of one, "Sometimes I watch this soap opera...and I'm in love with it!"

Now Troy laughed at me, "You're like a grandma!" he choked out.

"That is not true!" I smacked his leg.

"Alright now I have a question _for_ you," he said calming down, "I think you like to get dirty when we're together just so you can wear my clothes. Is this true?"

I smiled at him.

"No actually," I started honestly, "I just think its fun to get messy! But getting to wear your clothes is a nice bonus."

He smiled at me with his knee bending, inside melting, million dollar smile.

"Well you know what?" he asked, "You can have everything you're wearing."

"What?" I said taken aback.

"Montez, do you have any idea how much Wildcat clothing I have?"

"A ton," I answered, "The t-shirt almost fits me and I love baggy hoodies and sweatpants!"

"Yeah," Troy said, "I thought that t-shirt might fit you, it's from ninth grade."

"Thanks Troy," I said seriously.

"But of course," he smiled, "But I believe it's my turn to share a secret truth. And that is that we have only kissed once this whole date."

I could feel my smile growing larger as I crawled over to his side of the couch.

"And?" I urged him.

"That's not acceptable," he mumbled, our lips almost touching.  
He pulled away at the last second and began lightly kissing up my neck. With everyone more chills came. I moaned in longing as he kissed the side of my mouth. I felt him smiled against my face before planting his lips on mine. I reacted quickly and started kissing back. After countless minutes we broke apart and I settle down on him, laying my head on his chest.

"It's my turn," I whispered, "I beat you!"

He laughed and poked me as an answer. I squired all around giggling.

"So," Troy said, "What's the rating for this late."

I laughed into his chest.

"The highest rating possible," I told him, "But you know even if we just sat here all night, it'd be the best rating possible too."

"I love you baby," he whispered.

"I love you Troy."

**Author's Note**

**Hey everyone! Sorry a lot didn't happen in this chapter, but I figured all the Troyella would make up for it! Thanks for all the reviews! And in case you were wondering Croc 2 is a real computer game lol...I have it!  
I have a sad announcement. I'm sorry I didn't warn you earlier, but this is the second to last chapter. There's only one more! Are you guys alright with that or what?**

**You guys are great and please review for the last 2 chapters! Thanks!**

_(OK SHELBY TIME!! about the end of story thing, we (more or less me) think that we can easily add to the story with new plot twists and good what-nots and it can easily be added to the last chapter of the story which was already written. But please tell us if you think this story is no good and has been drawn out too much and think we should just stop and work on some new material._

_SO your choices as the amazing readers and reviews are:_

_--Keep going with the story. ( give your ideas if you have any! they are much help, and we love reading them!) or_

_--Stop with Class Act, and start with new material (after a long deserved break) _

_**Please review!!** we love all of your comments and ideas!! _


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 "I'm just glad all the fighting's gone..."**

**Troy's POV  
TWO MONTHS LATER**

"We did it again boys!" my dad said dropping onto the last remaining chair in our living room.

Chad, Jason, my dad, and I were all holding a bottle of pop, bag of chips, or something like that.

"We didn't win the championship yet," I reminded them.

"Shut up man," Chad grumbled, "We beat the hardest team out there!"

"I knew we would," I stated.

"Just eat your chips," my dad chimed in.

"You know what I was wondering," Chad asked, "When are they gonna be on our team?"

"They might not be able to," dad said knowing who he was talking about, "At least not this year."

"They will be," I said, "Just you wait."

We were all lying around lazily and celebrating our latest win.

The door opened and we all looked over to see who would walk in.

"Hey boys!"

Gabriella. Of course.

"Hey Gabs," I called as she stepped into the room.

"Hi, Gabriella," everyone chimed in.

"Look what I brought you basketballers!" she said cheerfully holding up a container.

"Are those cookies!?" Chad exclaimed.

"Homemade. Chocolate chip!" she continued smiling hugely and making me grin at her.

"Thank you!" Chad shouted as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"Great job guys," she told us again, "That game was amazing!"

"Thank _you_ Gabriella," my dad said taking a cookie.

She then walked over to me and sat on the couch with me. I winked at her and she grinned. No one noticed are discreet flirting. It had been two months already we've been dating. I could hardly believe it. I never imagined being this happy with someone.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV  
**

The halls of East High were covered in posters like always. There were people smiling and calling out the each other. Troy was by my side as we walked down the hallway. But one thing was different.

"The Westers are finally gone," Troy stated.

"Yeah. The halls are way less crossed," Nick Despotakis agreed.

"I'm even getting used to all the red," Bobby stated.

We all laughed.

"You gotta have school spirit!" Kelsi piped up.

"Speaking of spirit," Jason said, "You guys all better be at the game tomorrow!"

"Oh come on," I said, "You know we will be there!"

"We will?" Feroce asked.

We ignored him.

"You know what I haven't gotten used to here yet?" Rivi asked, "The lunches!"

"Food is food my friend," Chad said smacking him on the back.

We all laughed again.

"I'm just glad the fighting's gone and we're all together," I said honestly.

Troy looked over at me smiling. He grabbed me around the waist, pulled me to my side, and kissed my head.

"Me too," he whispered to me.

We were now one big pack of friends. Troy, Chad, Jason, Kelsi, Taylor, had become friends with Nick, Rivi, Bobby, and Feroce. And even when the Westers went back to West High, Nick, Rivi, Bobby, and Feroce had stayed. (Along with a few random students, whose parents like the East High system better then the West High system) They were now Wildcats.

All my craziest dreams had finally come true.

**Author's Note**s

**This chapter is just kind of happy ending kind of thing, but as you know we're thinking about extending this story. So the plan is this...when we decide we'll post an Author's Note chapter telling you guys what's going down! Sound good?  
Please review and tell us what you want!!**

-YEAH WHAT ROSIE SAID!! tell us what you want to happen. I already have ideas for this story to go on further. It will not be a sequal or anything, it will just keep going!! **But seriously **tell us your ideas and comments. You have no idea how much we love reading them. They really help us when we don't know what to write.

We will most likely will decide if we will continue or not in a week or so.(If we do continue it will probably take a couple more days to plan everythng out and write a chapter or two) SO! REVIEW and tell us what you think! I feel like i'm having deja vu from saying this so much but please! PLEASE REVIEW!! Even if you dont have a fanfiction account you can still review!! (that is major thumbs up! haha) Thanks -shelby


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 "Troy!"**

**Troy's POV  
**

"Can you believe the championships are tomorrow?" Gabriella asked me.

"No," I mumbled, "This year's been so weird."

We were sitting together on the floor, her in my lap. We were in the classroom closest to the gym. It was after school so anyone that was there was in the gym. I reluctantly pulled my phone out of my pocket. I groaned when I saw what time it was.

"What?" Gabriella asked sweetly lifting her head off my chest.

"Its 5:30," I replied, "I gotta get to practice."

She let out a deep sigh. I put my hands around her face and pulled her in for a quick kiss.

"Have fun!" Gabriella smiled jumping up. I grabbed her hands and she pulled me up.

"You'll be in the lab right?" I asked.

"Yep!" she exclaimed, "Tay and I'll be waiting!"  
"Good luck figuring out if x3n5 or 3²," I joked as we walked out of the room.

"Shut up!" she laughed pushing me.

"Ok, see ya later," I grinned running towards the gym.

"Bolton! Where've you been!?" my dad questioned as I entered.

"I'm here now! Let's start practicing!" I avoided the question happily catching a basketball Jason tossed at me.

He and Chad were laughing and staring at me. They knew very well where I had been.

"Alright," my dad said eyeing me up as I started to laugh too, "Let's get warmed up!"

We all hurried onto the court and started doing our usual warm up.

"Dad!" I called at the end of the warm up, "I say we scrimmage today. I mean the games tomorrow and we've been working hard."

"Yeah Coach," Chad chimed in, "You don't want us to be out of shape in our game."

He looked at us intently, thinking.

"Alright," he gave in, "Split into two teams!"

We all cheered and within minutes we had started the game.

"Troy over here!"

"Take a shot! Take a shot!"

"Dude! Rebound!"

Jason grabbed the ball and ran to the other side of the court. All of us followed him. I managed to steal the ball and dribble back to the other side of the court.

"Oh! What?" I called obnoxiously, jumping into the air and slamming the ball into the net. I heard cheering and knew I was going back to the ground...but only for a split second.

I heard the sickening crack, echo through the gym before the pain even registered.

"AAAH!" I screamed out reaching for my foot. My eyes squeezed tight and lights popped in my eyes.

"Troy!"

The screams and sounds of footsteps seemed light years away. The only thing in the world was the pain that was taking over my body.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Chad's POV**

"Troy!" I screamed as loud as I could.

He laid shaking back and forth and holding his ankle. We all ran towards him. Coach and I dropped down by his sides.

"Hey man," I said, "What's up? Can you talk to us?"

He groaned in pain as a reply.

"Ambulance," coach said quietly, before shouting, "Someone all an ambulance!"

"It's alright son," coach whispered.

I didn't know what to do. How could Troy Bolton be hurt? It was just weird. It took me a moment to realize there was one thing for me to do. I started sprinting through the deserted halls of the school. I tore around a few short bends before stopping in the science wing.

"Gab – riella!" I panted into the room where she and Taylor were working, "Come quick!"

"What's wrong?" she sounded scared.

I took a deep breath, not wanting to confirm her suspicions, "its Troy."

"What!? What happened!?"  
"He landed on his foot weird, the ambulance is on their way," I explained.

Gabriella ran out of the room and actually beat me to the gym.

"Troy!" I heard her shout.

She had already dropped down by his side.

"Hey Troy," she said quietly, "It's me."

"Gabriella," he said forcing himself to open his eyes.

I could see the pain still on his face. He was obviously being strong for his girlfriend.

"Don't worry about me," Troy went on sitting up, "I'm fine."

"Troy stay still," his dad demanded.

"Dad, I'm good."

"Troy, you're going to the hospital," I told him.

He stubbornly sat up and tried to stand.

I knew all he was thinking about was tomorrow's game.

"Troy," Gabriella said softly, "Don't be stubborn. You need to see a doctor."

Troy sighed deeply but allowed us to push him back down.

"They're here!" someone shouted.

Within the next couple minutes the doctors rushed in, got Troy into the ambulance, and pulled away. Coach Bolton had jumped in with them.

We all stood, simply staring after the ambulance.

"Chad!" I heard Gabriella shout, "Let's go!"

She and Taylor were already running towards my car. I came to my senses and quickly caught up with them.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

We had been in the hospital waiting room for who knows how long. All of us jumped to our feet as a nurse came out and led us to a room. Troy was sitting up in the bed and waved to us as we walked in. A blanket was pulled up to his waist...

"What happened?" Chad burst.

"Calm down," Troy said, "It's just a broken foot."

He tried to sound nonchalant but it didn't work.

"But Troy," I said quietly, "This means you can't play in- in the-"

"In the game," he finished strongly, "I'm sure Chad can manage things."

But even as he said this I could see the disappointment in his eyes. There's no way Troy Bolton should be robbed of his senior year championship basketball game.

Mr. Bolton let out a sigh of frustration. He had his hands on his face trying to take it in.

"Dad," Troy said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't," Mr. Bolton demanded, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry!?" Troy exclaimed, "You're not the one leaving your team hanging!"

"I'm sorry Troy," Mr. Bolton went on quietly, "Because we're gonna have to replace you for tomorrow."

**Author's Note**

**HEY! I am so sorry it took so long! We had major writers block and then I couldn't write it fast enough! But enough of my excuses! What did you think? I know it wasn't much but it's the start to some twisted plots! Please pick up reviewing where you left off! You guys are great!**

_**YES! FINALLY!**_ we accually get some chapters! well only this one, but more are on their way. And you know what would make us update alot faster? **REVIEWS!!** Yeah, we love those. And they really help. We are _so so so so sorry_ that it has taken this long (it was all rosie's fault i swear!) but we have major planning problems and we couldn't figure out which direction we were going to take the story. **BUT** everything is planned out, and we are going to try our hardest to get it all to you. I'm sorry but I'm going on vacation next week so I'm not sure if rosie will be able to do all the work herself. Hopefully she can. I believe in her. So there should be some smooth updating... JUST KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING AND KEEP READING WE SWEAR ITS GOING TO GET A WHOLE LOT BETTER!! Thanks! love ya guys! review please!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 "Great game..."**

**Gabriella's POV**

"This is wrong Troy," I said as we were getting out my car.

"Hey, maybe there's a reason for it. I'm sure Nick will be a good fill in for me," he smiled at me over the car.

"You don't have to be fake for me," I told him walking to his side, "I know you're furious you can't play and that you have to wear that big black boot and especially that I have to drive you around!"

"Alright if you want to hear me complain," he grinned grabbing my hand and walking me toward the gym, "I would do almost anything to be playing in this game. And it's going to be like living hell for me to be in the stands watching. But at least I'm not on crutches.

"I know," I said sympathetically, "But we'll make the most of it. I mean at least we get to sit on the player's bench!"

"Come on," Troy said trying to sound happy, "I wanna see the guys before the game."

We then hurried along to the gym where people were starting to arrive.

"I'll be right back Gabs," Troy told me.

"Ok," I smiled watching him limp into the locker room. I decided to wait there for him in case he needed help. There were already Wildcat fans pouring in wearing bright red and white. I heard a shrill of excitement and looked around. A cute little girl was holding her moms hand and jumping up and down. Her curly hair was pulled up in little pig tails and she was wearing a little red dress. My heart beat instantly quickened and I was losing all sense of thought. Everything around me was muffled and distant.

"Hey!"

I jumped feeling Troy's hand on my shoulder.

"Are you ok?" he asked when I faced him, "You look like you've experienced Chad's cooking."

"No," I said quietly faking a smile, "I'm good. You ready to sit down?"

"Yeah," he replied apparently convinced, "Let's go!"

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

"Despotakis steels the ball!" the announcer shouted, "Bounce pass to Danforth! Back to Despotakis! OH! A beautiful shot to bring the Wildcats into a lead! The Knights are moving down the court! He's gonna shoot...and OH! And outstanding block from Despotakis right before the buzzer!"

A second later the game ended and cheers erupted around me. I screamed and ran onto the court to meet the guys! Within seconds Nick was thrust into the air by the team. Thought I was wearing my jersey, I felt a little left out. For when the trophy was passed around, it somehow didn't make it to me. Rivi, Bobby, and Feroce had run onto the court too. I heard more shouts and turned to see Gabriella, Taylor, and Kelsi running towards me. They threw their arms around me but quickly moved on to the guys holding the trophy.

Eventually everything calmed down and we were the only ones left in the gym.

"Great game," I said to Nick.

He slapped me on the back, "Thanks man. Maybe we'll get to do that together some time.

"Yeah," I replied shortly.

Suddenly his large smile and short dark curly hair was annoying. What kind of stupid thing to say was that anyway? I turned and moved as fast as I could over to Chad.

"Here comes the cripple!" he sang laughing.

"Shut up," I smiled, "That was a nice swish you had there in the second quarter!"

"Yeah!" Chad called, "I've been practicing."  
"But dude," I said seriously, "What was up with that foul shot?"

"Hey that was not my fault!" Chad shouted defensively, "That dude was fidgeting and I swear he waved at me!"

I laughed hysterically at his seriousness. He kept trying to convince me, but Gabriella distracted me.

"Two years in a row East High brings in the championship," she grinned.

"Yeah," I replied, "Ever since you got here."

She smiled slightly, "You're coming over tonight right?"

"Of course."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Nick's POV  
**

"Hey man!" Johnny from the team called as I walked out of the gym with my brother Terry, "Welcome to the team!"  
"Thanks man!" I replied.

I hadn't felt this happy in so long. So many people had congratulated me. I knew this had been a life or death game for me. If I had messed up while filling in for Troy Bolton...East High would never forgive me.

"You did have some nice shots," my brother said.

"Don't embarrass yourself by trying to talk basketball with me man," I smiled, "Stick to theater!"

"Nicholas!"

I turned to see Gabriella and Troy walking out into the parking lot together.

"Hey guys," I said even though I had just said goodbye.

"Great game!" Gabriella smiled sweetly, but Troy was headed for her car.

"Bye," I said again.

She smiled and followed Troy.

What was his problem? Maybe his foot hurt. I've never had a broken foot maybe they hurt non stop. I should tell him about my thumb accident sometime...

**Author's Note**

**I am so sorry this is so short and updates are taking so long! Please don't stop reading because of it! I'm really afraid that I'm gonna lose you! This chapter was so short because I wanted to get it done before my poster** _(your poster, i feel so insignificant. and u still didnt get it to me on time!! u idiot!)_ **goes on vacation! I'm sure she'll explain further! You guys are so great! Please review!!**

_if anyone didnt understand the thumb comment at the end, it was mentioned in the begining of the story. but for me and rosie its a really hiliarious inside joke... never mind that. REVIEW!_


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 "Nick!"**

**Gabriella's POV**

"Nick! Brilliant!" someone shouted.

He just waved and smiled like always. He, Taylor, and I were walking through the halls a day after the championships. Not a single person in the school hadn't congratulated Nick. He had a great game and everyone knew it.

"Look," a small voice squealed.

I looked around and saw a couple ninth graders staring. It was really amazing how quickly it had happened.

"Mr. Despotakis," our teacher, Mr. Moe said as we entered his classroom, "Hero of the weak."

"More like of the month," I whispered as we sat down.

"Mr. Moe!" I heard a familiar voice from the door and saw Troy holding a small box.

"Troy!" Mr. Moe exclaimed happily, "Just set that down right where you are! How are you doing? You know, you got yourself some competition."

Troy apparently didn't think it was funny.

"Yeah," he answered shortly, "I got to get to class."

With that Troy turned and walked out. He must've had a bad morning...

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

I left Mr. Moe's classroom in a hurry. Why did people have to bring up the game everywhere I went? It's bad enough to have to limp around!

"Dude!"

I broke out of my thought to see Chad bounding towards me.

He would agree with me. We could always rip people apart together.

"Can you believe how people are talking about Nick like he's some kind of hero? I mean come on!"

"Yeah actually I can," Chad answered suddenly, "He had a great game."

"But so did you," I replied.

"Yeah but people are used to me. Nick's something new," he said.

Anger boiled inside me.

"Who cares though!? It's one game!" I shouted.

"Whoa," Chad said, "Sorry man. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

Once again I walked away deciding to stop in the bathroom before going to class. The first thing I saw was curly black hair. I tried to sneak into a stall before he could see me but...

"Troy!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Nick," I said without enthusiasm, "What do you want?"

"The guys and I are hanging out tonight. Do you want – "

"Well you guys have fun," I cut him off rudely; "I've got lot of better ways to spend my time."

I turned and limped out of the bathroom without even going.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhm  
Gabriella's POV  
**

"Hey mom," I said glumly walking into my house after school.

"Hey honey," she replied, "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah," I told her, "Troy's having a hard time with his foot that's all."

"Well he's an active boy," my mom said, "I'm sure it's hard to accept limping and having his girlfriend care for him. No guy wants to accept they are hurt."

"Yeah," I said thinking hard, "He definitely hates it."

"Just be patient."

I smiled and walked up to my room. I had just thrown myself onto my bed when my cell phone rang. I groaned and pulled it out of my pocket.

"Hello?"

"Gaaaabi! It's Rivi!"  
"Hey Rivi," I said already smiling for no reason.

"You're on speaker," he told me, "Bobby and Feroce are here too."

"Hey guys," I said, "What's up?"

"Well," it was Bobby, "We're at the mall between East and West and want you to come."

"Oh," I said surprised, "Right now?"

"Uh yeah," Feroce said, "Please come! Rivi won't stop making fun of me!"  
"Ok," I laughed, "Sounds like fun. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Gabi," Rivi said suddenly, "If you want to bring Taylor and Kelsi we'd be cool with that."

I paused not knowing how to react.

"Ok," I said slowly, "I'll – I'll call them."

"Sounds good! See ya!"

"Bye."

Everything was starting to get weird again...and I didn't like it.

**Author's Note**

**Excitement triples in the next chapter and Shelby and I are planning a planning session** _(yes we PLAN when we are going to plan this story. we are losers and we love it!)_** to get everything planned out so every chapter is exciting! Thanks so much for hanging with us. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! I need to know what you're thinking of the extended part of the story!**

_Yes! we NEED not want NEED to know what you guys are thinking after there are some weird parts in the story. Everything is going to get bigger and badder and better in the next chapters. Really we want to know if u like this story at all, or think we should take it in the opposite direction because we are going to go crazy the the near future. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!! -shelby_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 "Stop being such a jerk..."**

**Gabriella's POV**

"Hey Troy," I said as we sat down at the lunch table.

"Hey," he smiled, "How's it going?"

"Great," I said, "Taylor and I figured out what was going wrong in the lab."

"Oh yeah?" he replied, "What was it?"

"Well you see," Taylor interjected, "Someone accidentally mixed the-"

"Whoa," Troy stopped her, "Never mind! It won't make any sense to me so you might as well save your breath."

Everyone laughed at Troy's seriousness.

"Dude you coming to watch free period work out?" Chad asked taking a huge bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah probably," he said, "I can still dribble circles around you with this boot on!"

"Ouch," Chad smiled.

"Hey," I said seriously, "You better not be dribbling anything! Do I have to remind you what the doctor said?"

"No," Troy said sounding sad, "I promised him I wouldn't. But I can't see how it would hurt. I mean –"

He stopped when he saw the look on my face.

"I won't baby," he smiled, "I'm not that stupid."

I smiled as he grabbed my hand under the table.

"Hey. Excuse me," a kid I didn't know had approached our table.

"What's up?" Chad asked him.

"Do you know where Nick is?" the kid asked.

"He's in the library," I told him, "He should be in here soon."

"Thanks," the kid hurried away.

"Why the hell is he in the library?" Rivi exclaimed ready to make fun of him.

"His computer crashed," Bobby chimed in.

"Sucks for him," Troy said not sounding at all like he was joking.

"I wonder why that kid wanted to see him," Kelsi stated.

"Well probably to talk about the game," Feroce answered before anyone else had the chance.

I felt Troy tense next to me. He was annoyed.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," he mumbled getting up and quickly walking away.

"What's wrong?" Kelsi asked.

"I'll be back," I replied getting up to follow him.

I made it to the first corner when I heard Nick's voice.

"Hey Troy," he said.

"Yeah," Troy replied shortly.

I could hear them plain as day even though they were around the corner.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked.

"I'm sorry I don't report to you every time I have to pee," Troy replied rudely.

"Well I'm just gonna get to lunch then," Nick said sounding awkward.

"Yeah go ahead," Troy said aggressively, "Steal my seat too. You deserve it!"

His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Without another word Troy stomped down the hallway. I ducked into a classroom so neither of them saw me.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

"So how about Mrs. Cooper today," Taylor said laughing.

"Oh my gosh," I replied with a smile, "Sit 'own! Sit 'own or I write you up!"

I mocked her loudly.

Taylor and I were walking through the grocery store. She had a milk emergency so we decided to go buy some.

"She gave Joe a detention today," Taylor told me.

"Why?"

"He was passing a note to Amanda," she told me, "He was very sneaky as he threw it across the room!"

I rolled my eyes laughing.

"Had he written another cheesy pick-up line for her?" I asked.

"You know it," Tay said.

"It's so funny because Amanda's too nice to tell him no once and for all and she just gets all awkward. I feel bad -- "

"Gabi are you ok?" Taylor asked.

After a long pause I snapped out of it.

"What?"

"Gabi! What's wrong?"  
I focused in on Taylor's worried face.

"N- nothing," I told her, "Let's go pay."

I had just seen her again. That little girl with the cute curly pigtails...

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

I flung open the backstage door to the auditorium and walked in.  
"Gabriella?" I called hoping she was there. I had already checked the lab and the library. I was about to leave when I saw the curtain start to swing. Hoping to see Gabriella come out from behind it, I was very disappointed when it was Nick.

I glared at him. He had gotten my hopes for nothing.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Looking for Gabriella," he replied, "You?"

"Looking for Gabs."

"Well she's not on stage," Nick said.

"Oh really?" I asked sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed."

"Dude what's wrong with you lately?" Nick asked out of nowhere, "We were friends until the game! Are you really that ticked off about your foot!?"

"Uh yeah actually I am! Believe it or not it makes me mad that people worship you after one game!" I shouted.

"Aaaw," Nick mocked me, "Are you jealous."

"Jealous of you? I think you are jealous of me because, you don't have Gabriella and I do!"

I knew that was completely random but it stung.

"Man I am so sick of this!" Nick shouted.

"Aha!" I exclaimed, "I hit a nerv – "

Nick's large fist collided with my cheek. I managed to keep my balance but I instantly tasted blood in my mouth. I couldn't register that Nick had just hit me.

I looked at him, fury in my eyes and heart.

"Now stop being such a jerk," Nick had barely finished his demand when I slammed my fist into his cheek. He toppled over, not expecting me to retaliate.

I heard another crash and saw books scatter across the floor. Gabriella was standing above them, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

**Authors's Notes**

**. . . So what do you think Gabriella's gonna do? Who's side is she gonna pick?? Let me know what you think! And please forgive us for the huge break between 18 and 19 and then again 19 and 20! We are trying to make up for it! We even are posting three chapters at one time! Please review! Pretty pretty please with Troy Bolton on top?**

_OH OH OH!! I KNOW WHO'S SIDE SHES GONNA TAKE!! I also know everything thats gonna happen in this story! Claps for me!! Jealous much?? are u going to hit me like Troy hit Nick? or are u going to hit me like Nick hit Troy... i think Nick throws a better punch... im just randomly talking now. REVIEW IF U WANT TO KNOW WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT!!_


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**Gabriella's POV "I don't want to hear it..."**

I stared at the scene I had just witnessed in amazement. Had Troy really just hit Nick? I stood stuck to the ground for too long. A moan from Nick broke me out of it.

"Nick!" I exclaimed dropping down to his side.

"Hey! Are you ok?"

"Fine," he mumbled pushing himself up, "Barely felt it."

"Gabs, please. It's not what you think!" Troy declared.

"Oh my gosh, that's so typical," I exclaimed, "I see you punch Nick and it wasn't your fault!"

I turned back to Nick and started helping him up.

"Come on Nick," I said gently, "Let's go.'

"Gabriella please!" Troy called, "Just let me explain."

"That's enough Troy," I said calmly, "I have to take care of someone right now."

I turned and made Nick go to the nurse's office. I knew I was probably leaving a hurt Troy behind, but Nick was hurt too.

"What happened?" I asked quietly as we waited for the nurse.

"Nothing really," Nick replied, "He just can't get over the game or his ankle. Don't be too hard on him. Basketball's what he cares most about in the world. That is his biggest weakness.

"So that's all that happened?" I went on, "He's been a jerk to you lately and finally snapped.

There was a pause as I waited for Nick to reply. The door opened and the nurse walked in, interrupting our conversation.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

Nick and I were sitting at a picnic table in front on East High. It was the end of the day and we were waiting for Terry to come pick us up. There was a purplish bruise on Nick's cheek from Troy's fist.

"Gabriella," Nick said something serious, "I'm sorry about hat you saw yesterday. You shouldn't get pulled into – "

"Whoa," I put my hand up, "Stop. Let's just forget about yesterday. I really just don't want to think about it. Ok?"

We smiled at each other and he nodded. We continued to talk and Nick started telling funny stories. We were laughing loudly at one when someone appeared by the table.

"Hey," he said quietly.

Nick and I stopped laughing to look up at Troy. I smiled awkwardly.

"Hey there's Terry," Nick said standing up, pointing to a car near the sidewalk "I'll tell him to wait for you."

"Ok," I said.

"Gabriella please let me tell you my side of the story," Troy begged.

"Oh come on Troy," I said sounding annoyed.

"There's always two sides," Troy pointed out.

"Look Troy I don't want to hear the rest of the story. It's probably worse than what I saw."

I hoped not screaming at him would hurt Troy less. I don't think it was working.

"Come to my house," Troy persisted, "So we can just talk."

"No Troy," I said quietly.

There was a long pause where Troy stared at me and I stared at my feet.

"Look I gotta go. Ni – I cut myself off, "Terry's waiting."

I turned and started running toward Terry's car.

**hsmhsmsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

Nick led the way into the Despotakis' house. All three of us walked into the kitchen. Nick and I sat on stools as Terry handed us each a can of soda. We hadn't talked the whole way home. My mind was racing and I 'm sure Nick was thinking too. Who knows what Terry was thinking about.

"So..." Terry said attempting to start a conversation, "How are things with you and Troy, Gabriella?"

"Dude, shut up!" Nick exclaimed quietly attempting to only talk to Terry.

"Its fine Nick," I told him, "He didn't know."

"Oh...I'm sorry," Terry said, "Did you break up?"

"Terry!" Nick shouted.

Terry looked taken aback.

"Come on Gabi, let's go upstairs."

I followed Nick hurriedly up to his room. We had just sat down when another disturbance saved us from more awkwardness.

"Nick! Guess what I saw on YouTube!" Rivi shouted loudly bursting into the room.

"Hey Rivi," Nick said casually.

"Hey," I smiled.

"Hola!" Rivi replied sitting down at Nick's computer.

The door opened again and in walked Bobby and Feroce.

We all said hi and they sat on the ground.

"So," Nick said, "I heard about the mall adventure the other day with Taylor and Kelsi and Gabi."

"Oh man," Rivi spun around in the computer chair, "Taylor is hot!"

My eyes widened. I looked at all the guys and they were all grinning. The downside to having three best friends that were guys -- I've experienced many awkward guy talks.

"I never knew you thought of Taylor like that," Nick said.

"Dude she's so smart it's ridiculous!" Rivi went on, "And she kept laughing at my jokes!"

"Nice," Nick laughed.

"Yeah Kelsi was really nice," Feroce said, "She was trying to tell me about composing and I wasn't catching on. But I let her talk."

"Do you like them?" Nick asked.

Rivi and Feroce grinned.

"How about you Bobby?" Nick went on, "Have you found a girl at East High?"

"Oh, come on," Feroce said, "Bobby doesn't like girls yet!"

We all laughed hysterically.

**Author's Note**

**Hey everyone! Thanks for waiting so long! I now officially know what's going to happen! Isn't that good? The author knows what's going on! Anyway, sorry it took so long and I promise the next chapters will come up faster! I'm really sorry about the long pauses and I'm afraid we're losing some of you! Please keep reading! Thanks so much to those who are and to those reviewing!**

_ok seriously i have one more chapter in my documents right this moment, but im not sure if i want to post it with out the reviews... so basiclly (i know rosie hates this but i dont care) I WANT AT LEAST 6 REVIEWS. comeon!! that is not that hard... hey u reading this! click that button on the left hand bottom corner and tell us what you think!! SIMPLE! and then ill send you the next amazing chapter... i know im mean _


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 "Her."**

**Gabriella's POV**

It was finally the weekend and I was on my way to meet Taylor and Kelsi at Pizza Hut. I had decided to walk since it was only a couple blocks away. As I walked I thought about everything that happened lately. As soon as everything was right Nick and Troy started fighting. Now I'm kind of in a fight with Troy, but we're still dating. And what about Rivi and Feroce liking Taylor and Kelsi? Taylor and Kelsi are finally happy with Chad and Jason! At least they'll be able to shut down Rivi and Feroce with a good reason.

I had reached Pizza Hut and saw the girls already eating pizza. I rushed over to them smiling.

"Hey guys!" I said sitting next to Kelsi.

"Hey Gabi," Taylor greeted, "What took you so long?"

"I walked here," I explained grabbing a piece of pizza off the tray.

"Uh oh," Kelsi smiled, "That means you had a lot of thinking to do!"

I smiled, "How'd you know?"

"Oh come on," Taylor demanded, "When Kelsi needs to think she plays piano, when I need to think I go to the lab, and when you need to think you walk."

"Or go to Troy," Kelsi added.

I normally would've laughed because that was true. But, Troy was one of the reasons I needed to walk.

"So what's up?"

"Well," I started, "It's my friends Rivi and Feroce."

Taylor and Kelsi shared a quick look.

"They keep talking about you," I said flatly, "They think you're interested in them."

I was completely taken aback when the girls said nothing.

"Did you hear what I said?" I asked.

"Yeah," Kelsi answered, "I don't see the big problem."

"What?" I asked, "They think they have a chance with you. You don't want to lead them on, do you?"

"What if we're not leading them on?" Taylor asked.

"What?" I asked completely confused.

They had to be kidding.

"Well," Kelsi grinned, "They are kind of cute."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed, "And Rivi smells so good!"

"Guys!" I said in amazement, "You have boyfriends!"

"Gabi calm down," Taylor demanded, "We know we have boyfriends. We haven't done anything wrong."

"Yeah," Kelsi said calmly, "If we wanted to be with Rivi and Feroce we'd break up with our boyfriends first."

Shock pulsed through me. The guys must have them under a spell! All the sudden they're head over heels!

The waiter came over and by the time he left the subject had changed. I decided to not even bring up Troy.

A half hour later we walked back into the sunshine.

"Hey Gabi," Taylor said, "Kelsi and I are going to the mall. You coming?"

"No thanks," I said, "I've got some things to do."

"Ok," they said, "We'll see you later."

"Bye," I smiled and started back down the sidewalk.

I walked slowly down one block. When I started passing the park, I looked in at all the families. There were little kids running around and parents everywhere calling out to them. Everyone was enjoying the beautiful mood...except me. As I scanned over the swings, one little girl caught my eye. Her hair was yet again in those cute little pigtails. She jumped off the swing and ran a few feet to her mom. A smile slowly spread across my face and I couldn't bring myself to look away. All the sudden the mom looked up and we made major eye contact. She stared at me for a couple seconds before recognizing me as easily as I had recognized her. She smiled widely and began to wave.

Without thinking I turned and started running. I felt hot tears spring into my eyes and a huge lump formed in my throat. By the time I had run down the next block tears were pouring down my face. I turned a corner and for the first time I saw someone 30 yards away. His back was to me but his blonde hair stuck out plain as day.

"MIKE!" I shouted sounding desperate.

He turned as I had almost reached him. He opened his arms just in time for me to fly into them. We hugged tightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Her," I choked out.

"What?"

"I can't believe we gave her away," I went on.

"I know," Mike said trying to calm me. He didn't let go, just hugged me tighter, he knew I really needed it.

"But it was the right thing to do. We were so young. All of us, we made the right decision."

"Yeah you did Gabi. You were too young. You did what you had to do."

Mike let me talk and convince myself.

"I keep seeing her Mike," I told him, "I can't take it. It just makes me wonder...what if?"

Mike held me tight and let me cry all over his favorite t-shirt. I realized how lucky I was to have great friends. Every one of my friends had been through hard times with me, but they've stayed through everything.

**Author's Note.**

**So what did you think? I don't have a lot to say other than REVIEW! lol Thanks everyone...hope you liked it!**

_I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!! do u? REVIEW!!-- i promise we will post something soon!!_


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 "Ew!"**

**Troy's POV**

Chad sat down to the right of me at our lunch table. He was the last one. We were all now sitting quietly around the circular table. Yet again the whole scene was awkward. No one was talking, joking, or laughing. Nothing was right. People were even sitting in the wrong seats. We all always sit in the same place...but today was different.

Next to me was Chad and to the right of him was Jason. Then Bobby. Then Nick, then Gabriella, Rivi, Taylor, and finally directly to the left of me, Feroce. I glanced over at Chad and Jason. They were ticked. Something had gone down last night and I was pretty sure they had gotten dumped for their "best friends". I had been too afraid to ask if Taylor and Kelsi had officially left them for Rivi and Feroce. I looked over at them. They were smiling slightly and occasionally glancing at the girls. I rolled my eyes before looking over to Nick and Gabriella, who were sitting next to each other. If only Gabriella knew that Nick had hit me too. As the days passed I felt more and more like I was losing her. I shouldn't feel like I'm losing my girlfriend to her ex.

Sudden talking broke me out of my thoughts.  
"Yeah I can't wait till turkey season starts!" Bobby exclaimed.

"Oh yeah," Feroce agreed, "That's the best!"

"Dude you have to come over and see my new gear," Bobby went on.

"I have some new boots to show you too," Feroce replied excitedly.

Only they would talk about hunting at a time like this.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm  
Gabriella's POV**

I grabbed my pillow off my bed and reached in the pillow case. My hand clasped over what I was looking for. A crumpled piece of paper. I unfolded it and saw my scribbled check list. I had created a list of people to talk to at a time like this. Troy was on the top. He had already been crosses off since he was one of the things I needed to talk about. Next were Rivi, Feroce, and Bobby. They were crosses out too. I had gone to them and they had added more drama. My mom was away on business so I couldn't talk to her. There, almost at the bottom of my list, was Chad. I smiled and tossed the paper into my garbage can. I was off to see Chad. I was knocking on the Danforth's door 15 minutes later.

"Hey Gabriella," Mrs. Danforth smiled, "Go right upstairs. Chad's in his room."

"Thanks," I smiled before running up the steps. I grabbed the handle and called Chad's name as I opened it. I peered in and something I wasn't expecting met my eye. Troy was sitting on Chad's bed and Chad was at his computer chair. They looked really serious. Troy stared right at me and our eyes met.

Shit.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

Gabriella's eyes met with mine and I could see she hadn't planned on me being here.

Chad jumped up from his seat.

"I...uh...hungry...want something?..." Chad mumbled walking backwards toward the door. He reached the doorway, turned, and sprinted.

I rolled my eyes before returning my attention to Gabriella.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I needed someone to talk too," she replied, "I came to see Chad."

She turned and took a step toward the door.

"Gabriella wait!" I exclaimed jumping up from the bed.

"What?" she turned impatiently.

"Please just let me talk to you."

She looked me up and down, thinking.

"Go," she demanded.

"Thank you," I whispered, "I promise I'll tell you exactly what happened."

I slowly started telling her the mean things he said but also the mean things I said. When I got to the part where he hit me first her jaw dropped. She could tell I was telling the truth.

"Look Gabriella I know I shouldn't have hit him," I went on, "I know this whole thing was my fault. But even knowing that, I'm not going to let anyone push me around."

Gabriella let out a breath as she walked over and sat on Chad's bed.

"I'm so sorry Troy," she breathed, "I didn't know. Nick just told me you guys were arguing and you lost control."  
"Are you bad at him now?" I asked curiously.

"No," she answered, "He was just scared to tell me."

A bit of anger flared inside me. Why does Nick do no wrong? Why is he perfect? She never gets mad at him. I thought harder. I'm not mad at Nick. I just love Gabriella. I won't let myself lose her.

"Oh Gabs," I sighed sitting down next to her on the bed, "I love you. You have to know that. We've let other things get in our way but I now know none of that matters. The only thing that does matter is if you'll take me back. I want you, no I need you. And I'm not afraid to say it. So I'm asking you to take me back."

Much to my surprise, Gabriella grinned.

"We were never apart you big oaf!"

I grinned back widely and held out my arms. She threw herself at me and we hugged lovingly. I pulled her back to look her in the face before leaning in and kissing her. The kiss began to deepen and we started making out. The door opened suddenly and in burst Chad.

"Ew!" he exclaimed, "I have to sleep in that bed!"

**A/N**

_ok __here it goes... Troyella is not apart!! Yay! Claps for the them. Chaylor is apart and Jalsi is too, but neither of them have been in the story very much. Just in passing conversations have we mentioned them. I don't think we will have Chaylor or Jalsi parts, that is if you readers want them. Tell us if you want chad and taylor or kelsi and jason in the story. Becuase as u can tell in this chapter Rivi and Taylor are together and Feroce and Kelsi are together... We REALLY want to hear your thoughts on that situation!! Because we were not sure how many readers are Chaylor and Jelsi fans! _

_**So here's a POLL**_

_pick the ones that you agree with._

1. Don't care about chad and jason, get on with the story!

2. I hate Rivi and Feroce, stupid names, stupid charaters!

3. Keep orginal pairings, don't mess.

4. Love the twist, keep going with new parings!

_We still need to plan more, so there will be one more chapter after this and then maybe a short break and we will be back! we promise! We really want reviews! They inspire us and when we don't get them we think no one cares and no one is reading. i kidna want at leat 15 reviews by next chapter... but i can settle for 10! - Shelby_

_ **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!**_


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 "They have a connection!"**

**Nick's POV**

"What's up man?" I asked as Rivi walked in my living room where I was sitting.

"Hey," Rivi said, "We need to talk."

I realized instantly that it had to be important because Rivi had gone into serious mode.

"Is something wrong?" I asked nervously.

"I found Gabriella crying yesterday," Rivi started.

I was instantly concerned.

"Why? Who did it? What happened?"

"It's alright man, nobody hurt her," Rivi went on, "She was just really upset. She keep seeing...her. She told me she's seen her four or five times now."

"What!?" I exclaimed, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"I don't know man," Rivi said, "She probably didn't want to hurt you."

I moaned angrily.

"This isn't supposed to happen!" I growled, "They were supposed to move!"

"They did," Rivi replied, "But they moved back. Maybe they thought it was safe now."

"Well it's not!" I was almost shouting.

"I know Nick," Rivi said sadly, "I can't believe they came back either."

"Did she say anything else?" I asked.

"Yeah," he told me, "She keeps thinking 'what if' and you know that's never good."

The door flew open and in came Gabriella, Bobby, and Feroce.

"I found these two lurking in the street," Gabriella smiled.

"Gabi," I said, "Will you go on a walk with me?"

"Sure," she said sounding surprised.

I walked to the front door and started pulling on my shoes. The guys clearly thought we couldn't hear them because they started saying things I know they woundn't want us to hear.

"It's so obvious he still likes her," Bobby whispered.

"No he doesn't," Rivi stuck up for me, "He cares about her and doesn't want to hurt her. He knows she's happy with Troy. He's the one that backed off."

"But they still have a connection," Bobby stated.

"Well duh!" Feroce exclaimed quietly, "They had a child together!"

Shock ran through me. Had he really just said that? He knows we never mention it! I grabbed Gabi's hand and rushed her out of the house, praying she hadn't heard and hoping Rivi and Bobby would beat up Feroce.

**Author's Note**

**I know this is so short! I'm sorry! But it's kind of cliffy! **

**Thanks to all those who voted on the poll. We didn't take any offense to your answers and we understand how you feel! Thanks! **

**Thanks to readers, reviewers, you guys are so great! **

**I'm going to try to get another chapter up , but in a week I'm going on vacation. I'll be back on June 12****th****. So they're may be a little pause there! Hope you don't mind! Please let me know what you think of the story! I love you're comments! Bye for now! **

Wow all I have to say is: I love my charaters and I love the twists and turns i have planned _evil grin and laugh_

_**REVIEW!!**_


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

**Nick's POV**

Gabriella and I walked down the steps of my porch and started walking along the sidewalk. I looked up at her and saw a huge smile plastered across her face. Maybe she hadn't heard what Feroce had said. Should I still bring it up? What if I hurt her by bringing it up? Should I do it anyway? I have to do this. I can do this. You have to talk about it sometime!_ "Just ask her!"_ I told myself.

"So Gabriella," I started, "Why are you so happy?"

"What's not to be happy about?" she laughed as we walked down the sidewalk.

"Ok," I grinned back, "What happened?"

"I went to Chad's earlier and Troy's was there," she explained, "Everything's cool between us. I let him explain and we're back together!"

"That's great!" I exclaimed.

She grinned and started skipping in front of me. She was so happy. Can I really ruin that? But it has to be done! We need to talk about this. But I'm so nervous about how she'll react. This is one thing we never talk about.

I ran to catch up with her. As soon as I did she started telling me some crazy story.

"And then we ran through the hall and Chad started screaming "Get it!" And then – "

I was barely listening. I was more concentrated on what I was about to do.

"Rivi told me about the other day," I said abruptly, she immediately stopped telling her story.

"Michael Austin Rivi!" I'm gonna kill you!" she shouted.

"We need to talk about it Gabi," I said quietly.

"I know," she admitted her smile already fading; "I just wanted to pretend it didn't."

"Why didn't tell me the family was back?" I asked, "Why didn't you tell me you kept seeing her?"

"I don't know," she said sadly, "I guess I thought it wasn't important. We don't talk about it. And we don't talk to the family so I guess I figured if we didn't make a big deal about it, it would go away."

"Gabriella," I said calmly, "It is important. You keep seeing her and every time you do, it hurts you more. That's not fair. I want to be there for you. I promised to always be there no matter what. This happened because of both of us. You shouldn't have to go through this alone."

"I know and I'm sorry," Gabi said, tears welling in her eyes, "I guess I was also hoping it wasn't true. I was hoping it was a different family. But honestly, in the back of my mind I knew. I mean how could it not be her! She looks just like you!"

There was a pause and we kept walking. We had absentmindedly walked towards her house, but we were still a block away.

"Gabi," I started, "You know you have to tell Troy."

She reached up to her face and wiped away the tears.

"He deserves to know," I went on, "He's going to hate me even more, but in the end it's for the better."

"I know," Gabriella admitted again, "I will tell him, but not now. We were just fighting and it was my fault. It wouldn't be fair to Troy to tell him now."

"He needs to know. You're friends should know too. They can help you Gabi. They'll understand. You need them. And don't you think it would be more fair if Troy found out from you...not someone else?"

"But it's not going to make a difference," Gabriella argued, "Even if Troy knows, I'm still going to see this girl. I'm still going to look at her and know nothing about her!"

She was getting more and more worked up.

"Maybe that's why seeing her upsets me so much. I don't know my daughters first word. I don't know her favorite food, color, or TV show. She's been living for three years and I've never touched her soft skin. I don't know if she likes coloring or princesses or playing dress up! Hell, I don't even know my own child's name!"

"I know Gabi," I said trying to comfort her, "I know it's hard. But it was the right decision. We gave her up so she could have a better life. A life with parents who were old enough to know how to be parents. We gave her up so we could be normal teenagers. So we could go to school and hang out with friends on the weekend. I know you've always wanted to know her name. I know it was hard to walk away from her, calling her "her". But that was for the better. We decided that the adoptive parents would name her. We gave her up so all three of us could have a better life."

"That's not good enough Nick," she said shockingly, "I want to know her."

"What?" I exclaimed completely taken aback.

She stopped walking and looked into my eyes.

"I want to know our child."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm  
Gabriella's POV  
**

I walked up the steps to my front door. My mom was still away so I was surprised that the door was unlocked. Nick had received an urgent call from Feroce. Nick was afraid for the safety of his house and had rushes off. I heard the toilet flush upstairs and screamed. I then heard soft laughing.

"It's just me Gabs!"

Relief took over me and I stopped shaking.

"Troy Alexander Bolton I'm gonna get you!" I shouted running up the steps.

Troy was standing in the hallway laughing.

"Did I scare you?" he asked.

I flailed my arms at him and managed to hit his chest. He calmly reached down, grabbed me around the legs and threw me onto my bed.

"That's not fair!" I shouted.

He just grinned and dropped onto the end of my bed.

"So where've you been?" he asked smiling at me.

I couldn't help but to smile back at his excitement. He looked so cute, I had to restrain from throwing my arms around him.

"I stopped to see the guys then went out for a walk," I explained.

"Is everything ok?" he asked concerned.

"Why do you ask?" I questioned curiously.

"You were out walking," he stated, "Something had to be wrong."

"Taylor and Kelsi said the same thing a few days ago," I laughed.

"We know you," Troy grinned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied, "I just didn't want to come home to an empty house yet. Had I known you were here – "

"You would've com running as fast as you could?" he finished, his smile growing.

I crawled towards him across my large bed and laid my head on his shoulders.

"Mmm hmmm," I mumbled softly,

He wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my head.

"So what were you doing here?" I asked.

"I just wanted to hang out," he replied, "I thought we could watch a movie."

"Yay!" I exclaimed jumping up, "Pick one out!"

I moved to the other side of the bed and settled under the covers. Five minutes later Troy had put in a "Surprise" movie and settled down next to me.

"I love you Troy," I said suddenly.

I felt his lips form into a smile against my head.

**A/N**

**ok ok ok. So you got a little bit of info on the child. Not much though. We did that for a reason. We are very sorry but Rosie is going off on vacation so we won't have anymore chapters up until after June 12th. I know bummer right? But it wouldnt really matter if she stayed anyway because we still need to plan more for the story. So she's going to be writing over vacation(becuase she's a nerd duh.) and then she will send it to me when she gets home, and i will update as fast as my fingers can go!! **

**So since we still need to write the next couple chapter, it will be the perfect time for you to tell us your great ideas and theorys and predictions on this story. We will greatly appriciate it and maybe even get the person with the best idea a little something, something** _SMILES. _**So PM us or tell us in your review. Doesnt matter, we will still get it!! **

**TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!! REVIEW!!**

_(seriously we spend so much time on this story, do you think you can spare a couple seconds to drop a review with your thoughts?)_


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

**Gabriella's POV**

"That's all for today," Mr. Moe was saying, "You may talk quietly for the last few minutes of class."

I turned around quickly to face Nick.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," he replied, "How's everything been going?"  
"Well if you mean with her, good," I replied, "I haven't seen her since we talked."

"Gabi we need to talk about you wanting to know her," Nick said quietly, "You should really think about that before you do anything."

"I know Nick," I promised, "Believe me, that's all I can think about. I've made up my mind and I don't want to talk about it!"

"Sorry Gabi," he apologized, "I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

"I know," she said again, "I really appreciate it."

I smiled at him and he grinned back.

"How'd Troy take it?" Nick questioned, "I haven't talked to him."

There was a slight pause before I said, "Me either."

"What?" Nick replied, "Oh Gabi. You didn't tell him."

"I couldn't do it Nick!" I said, "Troy was so happy! He deserves more than a girl who got pregnant when she was 16!"

"Gabi," Nick said calmly, "Don't do this."

I looked away from him, holding back tears. Why do I cry so much!? I took a deep breath as Nick grabbed my hand.

"First of all," he said, "It wasn't your fault. Second, that was three years ago. We made a mistake, everyone does!"

"Ours was just bigger than most," I said sadly.

"Exactly."

"Well," I said rubbing my face, "What's number 3?"

"Troy cares about you," Nick continued calmly, "He'll forgive you."

I smiled thinking of Troy and knowing Nick was right.

"Thanks Nick."

"I told you Gabi," he said as the bell rang, "You don't have to do this alone."

We started walking out of the room together.

"So are you coming to movie night at my house tonight?" I asked.

"Of course!" Nick replied with a smile.

Out of nowhere Taylor and Kelsi were running towards me.

"Gabi," Taylor panted, "We need to talk to you!"

"O-ok," I said surprised by her urgency, "I'll see you at lunch Nick."

"Bye."

Taylor and Kelsi grabbed my hands and rushed me off to our next class. Fortunately we all the same fourth period.

"So what's up?" I asked sitting down.

"Movie night is tonight," Kelsi stated randomly.

"Yeah," I said confused, "What's wrong with that? You guys love movie night."

"Gabi, all the guys are going to be there," Taylor explained, "Rivi, Chad, Feroce, and Jason."

"Ooooh," I said catching on, "It's going to be awkward."

"Yep," Kelsi agreed, "But there's more than that."

"Chad and Jason haven't seemed the same recently," Taylor pointed out, "Kelsi and I know it's our fault."

"We feel...guilty," Kelsi confessed.

I smiled in spite of myself. I had been nervous about my friends. Taylor and Kelsi weren't the type to break up with their boyfriends just to hook up with someone else. They had just assured me that they are the people I always thought they were.

"Well," I started, "You guys can't help it if you have feeling for someone else."

"But Chad and Jason won't even want talk to us," Kelsi said, "We never wanted them to hate us."

"They don't hate you," I said honestly.

"Oh come on Gabi!" Taylor exclaimed, "How can you even say that!?"

"They obviously still care about you or they wouldn't be so upset about you being with Rivi and Feroce!"

Taylor and Kelsi were quiet for a moment as they thought about what I said.

"So," Kelsi started, "We should still come to movie night?"

"Of course you should!" I exclaimed happily, "Avoiding the awkwardness isn't going to make it go away. You just have to face it."

Our teacher came into class at that moment telling us to sit down quietly.

The girls both thanked me and I could tell they were thinking hard as they sat down.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

I was staring out at the fields beyond East High. I could see basketball courts, the track, the stadium, and everything beyond. It was free period so I had run up to the Secret Spot.

"Hey."

I turned around already smiling. It didn't even make me jump anymore when Troy snuck up on me like that.

"Hey Troy."

"What are you doing up here?" he asked leaning on the banister next to me.

"Looking for you," I grinned.

"Aaah," Troy grinned walking towards the bench, "The truth comes out."

I laughed as I turned to face him.

"You better be coming to movie night," I told him, "No more lame excuses."

"My mom made me go shopping with her last week!" he exclaimed defensively, "It wasn't an excuse, it was the truth!"

I laughed more about how serious he was being. A comfortable silence fell between us and I started thinking. Nick was right. I should tell him.

"Tr -"

I started at the same time he started telling a story.

"Sorry," he said, "You go first."

"No, it's ok," I replied, "Go ahead."

Troy launched into a story that pushed all serious thoughts out of my head.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

"Hello everyone!" Troy called obnoxiously as he came into my house.

I was grateful he walked into the living room because he was breaking the silence. The awkwardness had already begun.

"Hey Troy," everyone mumbled.

He lay down on the bean bag chair which was the only empty chair.

"So what's the movie for the night?" Taylor asked.

"Well," Feroce started, "I've always liked -"

"Feroce," Rivi cut him off, "Think about what movie you're about to say. Is it something we'll make fun of you for?"

Everyone stared at Feroce who was deep in thought.

"Yeah you're right," he said, "Never mind."

We all laughed and rolled our eyes.

"Well I don't care what we watch," Nick chimed in, "I just want some popcorn."

"I'll make it!" Rivi exclaimed running into the kitchen.

I looked around the room. It was a sad sight. Troy, Rivi, Feroce, Nick, and I were all happy, but the awkwardness coming from everyone else filled the whole room.

"Gabi!" I heard Rivi calling, "I can't find the popcorn!"

I grinned and moved to stand up.

"Hey, hey," Troy said seriously already on his feet, "I got it."  
"You sure?" I asked quietly.

He winked and grinned before running into the kitchen.

I hated when he did that...Actually I loved it! It was hard to decide. I loved the way he winked and his smile was enough to make anyone feel weak. It made me melt when he did either one. He had me completely under his control.

The two boys appeared back in the living room.

"Gabriella," Rivi said, "How could you do this to us?"

"We came here for a movie night," Troy went on, "And you have no popcorn."  
"No way!" I exclaimed completely shocked.

Nick started laughing, "Nice one Gabi!"

I started laughing too, "Sorry guys!"

"Don't worry about it," Rivi demanded, "I'm gong to get some!"

We all stared at him.

"There's a store a block away! I'll be right back!" he exclaimed slipping on his shoes, "Hey Tay, you coming?"

I watched, frowning slightly as Taylor smiled and hurried across the room. Rivi waited as she slipped on her shoes then followed her out the front door.

My eyes were then drawn to Chad. His fists were clenched and he was staring at the spot Taylor had just been. His jaw was clenched shut and it was so obvious how upset he was. Troy had watched the same things I had. He looked over at me and saw the sad look on my face. He grinned at me. I knew that grin meant "I got this."

"Dude," he said turning to Chad, "Wanna go shoot with me?"

"Naw I'm good," Chad broke out of his trance, "I got to pee."

He stood up and tried to walk away. Troy stuck out his arm to stop him, then threw him back to the couch.

"Come on guys," Troy started, "Why does everyone seem so depressed? This is movie night! We're supposed to be laughin...and joking...you know like...haha! What's the point of spending our time together in a state of depression? Some of us our happy and we have good reason to be! You're here with your best friends! What's not to be happy about? I know we all have our problems right now but let's set aside time to talk about them and leave movie night free to be fun!"

He looked over at his best friend.

"Come on man."

"Alright," Chad gave in, "But Jason and Nick are coming too!"

"Yeeeeaaaaaaaah!!" Troy said happily leading the guys outside.

Once again one of Troy's random speeches saved the day!

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Rivi's POV**

"Thanks for coming," I smiled as Taylor and I walked down the steps.

"Of course," she grinned cutely.

"So you were Gabi's first friend when she came to East High?"

"Yeah," Taylor started, "I found out how smart she is and started begging her to join our Decathlon. That's really how we met."

"So you became friends because you're both nerds," I said laughing.

Taylor looked at me in shock and slapped my arm.

"I'm just kidding!" I exclaimed as we both laughed.

I loved how smart she was! I watched her in the lab the other day and it was truly amazing.

"So how did you become friends with her?" Taylor asked me.

"Oh gosh," I said thinking back, "Feroce and I became her friends because of Nick. They met in a pretty funny way. She was lost her first day at West High and asked Nick for directions. Nick, being the kind and intelligent guy he is, took her to the wrong place. He got lost in his own school. Then they ended up riding the same bus and were apparently the only "normal people" that rode it."  
Taylor started laughing as I finished my story. I wished she would have just kept laughing. I could listen to her cute laugh all day.

"So if her and Nick became friends then, when did they start dating?" she asked.

"Well they got together the summer between 9th and 10th grade. Unlike anything else in their relationship it was pretty normal. They were at my house actually. Nick, Feroce, and Gabi were sleeping over and Nick and Gabi ended up alone somehow. When Feroce and I found them they were making out.

"Of course," Taylor smiled, "So you played matchmaker?"

"No!" I denied, "It was a complete accident that my phone rang and Feroce had to pee at the same time!"

We both started laughing again.

"Ok, ok," Taylor said sounding excited, "I have another question!"

I couldn't help but grin at her. I like her so much. She's like perfect. I never thought I'd meet someone as nice as Gabi, but I have.

"Ok," I said pulling myself out of my thoughts, "What's your question?"

"Ok," she said, "What do guys do at sleepovers?"

I started laughing hysterically at how funny she is.

"Is this something you've always wondered?" I asked trying to control myself.

"Yeah it is!" she answered, "What do you do?"  
"Well," I said thinking, "Typical stuff. We play sports and video games and random stuff outside. But that's just any boys. If you're weird like us we hang out and stuff. And just so you know, guys are allowed to have guy talk!"

"Oh," Taylor grinned, "Guy talk. The truth comes out! Guys gossip too!"

I couldn't help but too laugh again.

"So Gabi tells me she's had to sit through guy talk before," Taylor stated.

"Well she has a lot of guy friends," I replied.

"How does she put up with it?" Taylor laughed.

"She probably hates it," I stated, "But you know Gabi, she's a trooper."

"So you four had a lot of good times together," Taylor went on, "What was the weirdest thing that happened between Nick and Gabi while they were dating?"

"Oh man," I exclaimed, "The weirdest thing. Let me think about that. Well there was the time at the pool, or at the park, or when it started raining that one time! Then there's The Incident or course and The Trip oh and The Secret. And then"

"The Secret?"  
I looked around in surprise. Taylor was still walking beside me. I had completely forgotten and gotten lost in memories.

"What?" I asked.

"What's the secret?" Taylor asked curiously.

"Oh that's just what I call her," I explained.

"Gabriella?"

"No," I said not understanding why she was so confused, "The little girl."

"Rivi," Taylor said seriously, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Did – didn't she tell you?" I asked getting nervous.

"No," Taylor said, "Who's the little girl?"

I tried to tell myself not to tell her, but why shouldn't I? I looked into her face and couldn't stop myself.

"Well we were at this..."

Five minutes later Taylor had stopped walking. Her eyes were wide and I could tell she was in total shock.  
"Tay," I said, "You're not upset are you?"

"N-no," she stuttered, "I'm not upset I just...it's a shock."

"Tay you have to understand," I explained urgently, "It was a mistake and she's having a hard time dealing with it. She needs her friends right now."

"Rivi," Taylor stopped me, "Gabi is my friend. You can trust me."

"I know," I said, "And personally, I think all of you should know."

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm  
Gabriella's POV**

"We're back and we have the popcorn!" Rivi burst through the door holding it in the air.

We all laughed and cheered as he ran to the kitchen to make it. The guys had come back from playing basketball and the room was less awkward. Taylor strangely walked right across the room. She glanced at me quickly but looked away as our eyes met. She sat down next to Kelsi and started whispering to her. She glanced up once or twice and stared at me awkwardly. I watched closely as her eyes traveled to Nick and she gave him the same look.

**Author's Note**

**Well I usually just ramble on during these author's notes but today I actually have stuff to say! First of all I'm sorry the update took so long but I just got back from vacation today and I got it ready to post ASAP! **

**Second...I'm sorry about some confusion from a couple chapters ago. We used the name Mike in a semi emotional scene. Mike is Rivi's first name. I'm sorry; I know we haven't mentioned that in awhile. We just brought it out to add a little more personal touch to a situation that was supposed to be emotional.**

**Third...Is about the twist with the child. We knew it was going to be risky and we're glad that a lot of you liked it. To those who didn't we understand and appreciate your opinion but that is just another twist we decided to go for. We also ask you to stick with the story even though you don't agree with one of the changes.**

**Fourth...is actually about this chapter! I know there was a lot of Taylor and Rivi but I promise it was necessary and will lead to more!**

**Finally...about the "what do guys do at sleepovers" thing...Call us weird but that's just something Shelby and I have always wondered!! haha **

**Well thanks for reading this ridiculously long AN and I really hoped you liked the chapter! **


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29 "Claire."**

**Nick's POV**

"Hey man," I said sitting next to Rivi at a table in the library, "What the heck are you doing in here?"  
Rivi barely smiled. Something wasn't right.

"Oh I see," I went on, "It's quiet in here, a good place to think."

"Yeah," Rivi said quietly, "That was my plan."

"So what's up," I asked hoping he'd talk to me.

He took a deep breath and continued to stare into space.

"It's Taylor" he said suddenly.

"So...you just came here to think about your girlfriend?" I asked.

"No man," he said finally looking at me, "Something's not right between us."  
"How is that possible?" I asked, "I know how much you like her."

"But it doesn't matter how much I like her, if she doesn't like me."

"Whoa," I said surprised, "Last time I checked everything was great between you guys!"  
"Well it is, or it could be if I left it alone," Rivi explained.

"But you can't," I stated, "Why?"

"Because I care about Taylor," he admitted, "I don't want to be with her if she doesn't want to be with me. I just want her to be happy. I want her to have what she wants."

"What do you think she wants?" I asked trying to help him think of everything before he did something he'd regret.

"Chad."

"What?"

"I think Taylor wants to be with Chad," Rivi went on.

"But dude," I said, "She broke up with him for you."

"Because I flirted with her," Rivi said, "I mean I am kind of hard to resist."

I looked up at him quickly. A grin was spreading across his face.

"You thought I was being serious about being hard to resist!" Rivi exclaimed as I started laughing.

"Uh yeah, I did for a second," I admitted.

"So anyway," Rivi said getting serious again, "I don't want to break up with her but she'll be happier that way. It's the right thing to do."

"You're a good man Michael Rivi," I said patting his back, "You're a good man."

"Well I don't want to talk about that anymore. Let's talk about your relationship problems."

"Oh man," I said rubbing my face, "Where do we start?"

"With a question I have for you," Rivi answered.

"Oh goody!"said sarcastically.

"What are your feelings for Gabriella?"

I let out a breath slowly.

"Pass."

"What!? No! Answer the question man!" Rivi laughed.

"Ok, ok," I said, "Well I kind of have to love her. But like I said when we broke up, it's more of a sister love. I mean it's more than a friend love but not a girlfriend kind. So yeah, it's a sisterly love. And I mean it's kind of unconditional. You know because of our...connection. But anyway man, there's actually someone else."

"What!?" Rivi shouted.

"Mr. Rivi!" the librarian swooped down on us.

Rivi jumped in surprise and I held back a laugh as he apologized.

"Shut up man," Rivi demanded, "Tell me about this girl!"  
"Well it's just a thought you know?" I started, "I mean she's just really pretty and funny and I keep thinking about her."

"Ok it sounds like a simple crush," Rivi evaluated as I explained.

"And when I talk to her it's like a highlight of the class!"  
"I diagnose you with an "Intermediate School crush"," Rivi rolled his eyes grinning, "Now give me a name!"

"Claire from our English class."

I watched Rivi's eyes bulge and his smile fade.

"Claire?"

"Yeah," I answered, "You know her?"

"Yeah she's a jerk!" Rivi exclaimed.

"What? No she's not!" I exclaimed, "She's my partner right now in English! She's really nice!"

The bell rang and Rivi stood up.

"A bit of advice," he said, "Don't let her nice smile and batting eyes blind you from what's inside."

With that, Rivi walked away. Claire a jerk? No way!

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

I walked down the hallway towards Chad's locker so we could walk to our next together. I walked slowly waving to a couple people. I walked past a couple girls I knew and said hey. They smiled slightly but said nothing.

I shrugged and started walking towards my teammate Jake. I was going to ask him if he wanted to play ball with Chad, Jason, and I after school sometime.

I walked up to him and a couple other guys and they stopped talking immediately. One of the guys broke off in the middle of a sentence.

"What's up guys?"

"Oh we were just -"

"Um talking about..."

"Basketball!" one of them finished their lame cover story.

"See ya guys," I walked away knowing they didn't want me to know what they were talking about.

I was almost to Chad's locker when I heard whispers and noticed three girls I didn't even know staring at me and whispering. What could they possible be talking about? One thing was for sure, East High wasn't sneaky. It couldn't have been more obvious that I was being talked about. But why!? I hadn't done anything except... Nick. Our fight. I punched him. Everyone knew that I had punched the latest basketball hero. I pushed my mean feelings for Nick away. The school would be over it by next week. No big deal.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm  
Gabriella's POV  
**

The whispers had been following me all day. People cutting off conversations when I came near. People pointing when they thought I wasn't looking or staring and pretending they weren't. It was so obvious and I couldn't handle because there was only one reason for it. The whole school knew. Somehow my secret had spread. I was done for. Once everyone knew I had a daughter I'd be called all kinds of names. I may have to move again and leave Troy and all my friends. If they even still wanted to be my friends!

How could this happen! I hadn't told anyone! I walked into English class and went straight to my seat. No one said hi to me or anything. My insides were slowly breaking down. I'd never felt like such an outcast ...never felt so alone or unwelcome at East High.

"Hey Gabi."

Rivi. He came to my rescue again.

"Hey Rivi," I smiled, "Good to see you."

"Good to see you too," he said sounding confused, "You ok?"

"Yeah now that I have someone to talk too!" I smiled.

"We gotta work on our project," he went on, "Gray wrote it on the board."

"Ok," I said pulling some paper out, "Let's get started.

When Rivi didn't say anything I looked up at him. He was staring at the back of the room.

"What's up Rivi?"

He nodded towards the back of the room and I turned around. Claire and Nick were laughing and talking. Nick said something I couldn't hear and Claire's obnoxious laughter erupted through the room.

Nick dropped his pencil clumsily and Claire immediately bent to pick it up.

"Thanks," I heard Nick say.

"You're quite welcome."

I turned back to Rivi who was rolling his eyes.

"Nick has a crush on her," Rivi told me.

"I know."

"He told you?" Rivi asked.

"No," I replied, "He's just that obvious."

Rivi laughed, "True."

"It's funny but it's not good," I said.

Rivi looked up at me confused.

"Claire will go out with anyone who likes her. When she realized Nick likes her, it's all over."

"Good point."

Nick bustled by us and a minute later was walking out of the door with the bathroom pass. Claire started walking towards the front of the class.

"Watch this," Rivi whispered.

Right as Claire walked by Rivi purposely dropped his pencil in front of her. She glanced down at it, rolled her eyes, and kept walking. I think I heard her say something that sounded like, "Just because I like your friend, doesn't mean I have to like you..."

"I can't believe her," I whispered, "She's the most two-faced person I've even known!"

"Her laugh annoys that crap out of me," Rivi stated.

"Me too!" I said.

"Hopefully Nick realizes she's only nice to him and her one friend."

"We can only hope," I agreed.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

"Hellooooo!" I called walking through the front door to Gabriella's house.

It was after school and I was on my way home from my run so I had decided to stop by.

"I'm in the kitchen!" I heard her call.

I walked straight into the kitchen and saw Gabriella sitting on a stool at the counter.

"What the heck are you doing?" I laughed.

"Hey," she said, "Just hanging out."

I noticed she looked sad. Her voice didn't sound cheerful and no music was playing. The house was silent. Something was wrong.

"Hey," I said sitting across from her, "What's up?"

"Bad mood," she answered simply.

"Whoa, we can't have that!' I exclaimed, "I came here to see my girlfriend and I can't stand seeing her down in the dumps."

A smile was already growing on her face. She was curled up on the stool and I noticed she was already wearing night pants and a large t-shirt.

"Did you have dinner?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"I just didn't feel like it."

"I'll make you something!" I said jumping up.

"What can you make?" she asked me skeptically.

"I'm insulted," I joked, "I happen to be able to make an excellent grilled cheese!"

She laughed loudly making me smiled.

"Just sit back and wait," I demanded.

Five minutes later I had a grilled cheese cooking on the stove. My back was to Gabriella as I started flipping the sandwich.

I suddenly felt her small hands on my waist. She slid them around my stomach and laid her chin on my shoulder.

"Thanks Troy," she whispered.

"Mmm hmmm," I mumbled turning to face her.

She leaned up and I bent down finish the kiss. I wrapped my arms around her waist as we began to make out.

"What's that smell?" Gabriella asked pulling away countless minutes later.

"Shit!" I exclaimed turning around and switching the flame off.

"I burnt your grilled cheese!" I said sadly.

Gabriella laughed again.

"It's cool Troy," she smiled, "You were...distracted."

I grinned, "But you're still hungry."

"It's ok Troy."

"We could order in," I suggested, "Yeah we'll do that! What do you want!?"

"Hmmm," she thought, "Chinese!"

"Excellent!" I exclaimed, "I'll order! Wait in the living room."

She smiled and walked away.

Twenty minutes later we were lying on the couch watching Gabriella's movie of choice, Across the Universe. As one of her favorite songs, _With The Help From My Friends_, came on I began to sing to her. She smiled and laid her head on my chest.

The doorbell rang.

"Food's here!" Gabriella called moving to get up.

"Whoa!" I shouted, "I'm paying!'

She rolled her eyes and continued walking to the door. I jumped up and ran after her.

"Don't even think about it!" I shouted.

I grabbed her around the waist and threw her onto the couch. She laughed happily and I ran to the door and paid.

"Here you are," I smiled handing her food before sitting next to her.

"Hey Troy," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for cheering me up."

I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"My pleasure."

**Author's Note**

**Since my AN was so long last time I'll make this one sweet and short! Hope you guys liked it please let me know through reviews!! You guys are great! Thanks**

**PS. Hi A!!** _Hello good friend! :)_


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

**Gabriella's POV  
**

English class had just ended and we all moved to walk into the hallway. I got up quickly to reach Nick.

"Ni –" I started to call.

He was already walking down the hallway with Claire.

"Come on," Rivi came up behind me.

We started walking faster and stood a few feet behind them. They didn't even notice we were there.

"We're almost done with our project," Nick stated.

"Yeah," Claire agreed, "Because you're so smart."

I rolled my eyes. Nick blushed.

"So do you want to go out sometime?" Claire asked casually.

"Yeah," Nick answered, "That sounds great."

Oh my gosh. That's all I could think. I knew this was going to happen! What is wrong with Nick? Does he seriously think she likes him!?

"What and idiot," Rivi said.

"Yeah," I agreed, "I wonder how long it'll take him to realize she's a jerk."

"I wonder how long it'll take for him to be wrapped around her little finger," Rivi stated.

"Not long," I replied with a smile.

"And this is so out of nowhere!" Rivi went on.

"I told you," I said, "As soon as Claire finds out someone likes her..."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

I was walking into lunch by myself. I usually walked with Nick but he of course was walking with Claire. I went straight to the line and quietly stood. A couple girls in front of me were whispering. I tried not to listen but heard Troy's name and tuned it.

"Yeah Troy has no idea he's getting cheated on," one said.

My eyes grew wide and I filled with anger.

"Gabriella and Nick have a kid, does Troy know that?"  
"Probably not," one girl said snottily, "Why would she want Troy to know, she still needs to use him."

"I still can't believe she has a kid."

"I heard she has a five year old son."

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and quickly ran out of the cafeteria. Tears were of course, already in my eyes. I kept running until I got to the Spot. I stood crying and breathing in the fresh air. How could the school turn on me so quickly? And how did they find out? Me, cheating on Troy? Where did they get that from? I would never cheat on him! It's time. I have to tell Troy. If I don't tell him he'll hear some stupid rumor! He'll probably hear that I have three kids with different dads and think I'm cheating on him with Feroce or something!

I took a deep breath and started back into school. I ran back towards the cafeteria. I should've told Troy long ago. I had to get to him first. If I did, he would understand.

I peered into the cafeteria. Troy wasn't there.

"Crap," I said to myself, "Where could he be?"

The gym of course! I started running across the school to find him.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

I ran down the court and jumped at the right time to perform a perfect lay-up. I had missed basketball so much I had decided to play during lunch. I glanced at the clock and saw I had five minutes until the bell rang. I tossed the ball into the basket of balls and ran towards the locker room. I took one step in and froze. I was surprised to hear two guys talking. I had thought I was alone. I was about to walk in the rest of the way when I heard Gabriella's name.

"Can you believe Gabriella cheated on him?" one said.

"Yeah and with her ex, Nick."

Doubt, anger, confusion, sadness everything was mixed inside me. I broke out in a nervous sweat as they continued talking.

"Well I'm sure seeing a kid you had together would bring back old feelings," the first kid said.

"What I can't believe is that sweet and innocent Gabriella Montez had a kid three years ago."

I had heard enough. My body was shaking uncontrollably. My breathing was ragged and uneven. Gabriella and Nick have a kid? Cheating on me? Gabriella has been pregnant...it was too much!

I slowly walked out of the gym and started down the deserted hallway. I was moving in a daze. There was nothing going on around me. Nothing else mattered.

"Sweet, innocent Gabriella Montez had a kid three years ago..."

The words rang through my head repeatedly.

The whispering and stares...it all made sense now. Nobody cared that I had hit Nick. They just wondered if I knew that my girlfriend had a kid. The whole school knew before me.

In the distance I heard my name.

"Troy!"

It took me a few minutes to register and look up. Gabriella was moving quickly down the hallway towards me. A huge smile was plastered on her face.

"Hey Troy!" she stopped by me, "We really need to talk."

"Yeah," I said, "We do."

"Hey is everything ok?" she asked looking concerned.

I stared at her blankly in a way I never had before.

"You tell me Gabriella," I demanded, "How's your little scheme working? Everything alright with handling Nick and I?"  
"Troy what are you talking about?"

"Enough Gabriella," I stated, "The game is over. If you wanted to be with Nick why didn't you just tell me!?"  
Gabriella stepped back as I started to yell.

"Believe me; it hurts a hell of a lot more to get cheated on then to get broken up with!"

"Oh no," she said quietly, "Someone got to you first."

"What are you talking about?"

"Troy I was just coming to tell you the truth."

"Well someone took care of that for you so don't worry," I said angrily, "You don't have to go through the pain of breaking up with me."

"Troy please," she begged, "I didn't cheat on you!"

"It doesn't matter!" I shouted, "Even if you didn't you still have a kid with him!"

"They told you everything?" Gabriella choked out.

"Yeah," I stopped yelling, "They did."

"Troy please let me explain."

"Stop it Gabriella!" I shouted, "This is how you wanted it! You're happy now! You don't have to pretend to want me anymore. I set you free from any ties I may have had on you. You and Nick have fun! I'm sorry for any inconveniences I may have caused while we were together! You don't have to worry about that anymore!"

"Troy please," she cried quietly, "Don't be ridiculous."

I let out a small laugh at my own stupidity for trusting her and walked away.

**hsmhsmhmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Gabriella's POV**

I walked up to Troy's door and took a deep breath. I didn't even hesitate as I reached up and pounded on the door. It swung open sooner then I anticipated but it was Mrs. Bolton who answered.

"Oh hi Mrs. Bolton," I said, "Is Troy here?"

"Yes dear he's in his room," she answered, "Go on up."

So Troy hadn't told his mom yet, good.

I stood outside Troy's closed bedroom door and could hear him throwing himself a ball.

"Troy," I called out softly, "Can we please talk now?"

He didn't answer.

"Troy please!" I called out.

He ignored me again. I decided to take matters into my own hands and pushed open the door. Sure enough there was Troy lying on his back on his bed. The basketball he had been throwing was lying next to him.

"What?" he asked rudely.

"We need to talk about what you heard and what's the truth."

"What is there to say Gabi?" he demanded, "You cheated on me with Nick and three years ago had a kid with him. And you decided not to tell me."

"First of all Troy I did not cheat on you," I said fiercely.

When he rolled his eyes I knew this was pointless.

"Ok fine. I can tell we're not going to get anywhere with this today. You're not going to listen or believe anything I say so I'm not even going to try. But I do know that you'll listen to my whole story eventually. I know because when you tried to explain yourself to me, about your fight with Nick, I ignored you the first couple times. And if I pulled through and finally heard the truth from you, I know you will."

I stared at Troy the whole time I spoke and he stared at the ceiling.

"So why are you still here?"  
I felt like he had punched me in the gut. It stung to hear him talk in such a mean and hurtful voice.

"You don't mean that Troy," I said quietly, "Deep down you know I'd never hurt you and you know I love you."

I paused once more and decided to tell him more.

"But I am leaving now because I have meeting. I'm meeting with the mom of my baby. I don't even know my baby's name. Did you know that? I gave her up so I could live a normal life."

As I turned and walked away I felt as if I had gotten through to Troy how I was feeling. Hopefully he realized that I wasn't lying and he'd listen to me.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Fifteen minutes later I was walking into a large and virtually empty park. I saw Nick and the woman sitting at bench and quickly walked over to them.

"Hi," I started, "I'm Gabriella."

"Hi Gabriella," the woman said, "I'm Deanna. Nick and I were just talking about you."

"I told her not to worry because you're always late," Nick smiled.

Deanna laughed and I forced a smile.

"So," I said, "Where is she?"

Deanna pointed towards a small plastic slide that was park of the playground. There she was. The little girl flying down the slide giggling happily. She immediately ran to the steps to slide down again.

I smiled as Nick moved over so I could sit on the bench too.

"So what can I do for you?" Deanna asked.

"Well," I said taking a deep breath, "I really just want to know the basics about her. I mean what's her name?"

I couldn't help but blurt it out.

Deanna smiled at me, understanding.

"We named her Alison," she replied.

"Alison," I repeated watching her slide, "It's perfect."

I was already choking up. Nick reached over and grabbed my hand.

"Well," Deanna went on, "She loves to play. She loves being outside. We have a small yard and a small pool. She's very smart for her age and she loves putting on shows for us!"

I felt a tear run down my face. She was just like Nick and I. Nick gave my hand a squeeze as Deanna went on.

"Alison is very outgoing and already loves books."

"Thank you," I smiled, "This means so much to me. You didn't have to do this and I am so grateful that you let us meet her."

"Of course honey," Deanna smiled, "I should be thanking you."

"Mommy!"

We all turned in surprise and saw Alison standing right behind us.

"Hey Alison," Deanna said, "What's up?"

"Who are they?" she questioned cutely.

"These are mommy's friends," Deanna said, "Gabriella and Nick."

"Hi Gabriella! Hi Nick! I'm Alison!"

"Hey Alison," Nick replied, "How are you?"

"Good."

I smiled at her unable to speak.

"Why don't you play for a couple more minutes then we're going to meet daddy," Deanna told Alison.

"Ok mommy!"

The little girl skipped away and Nick, Deanna, and I stood up.

"Thanks again," Nick replied.

"You're welcome," Deanna said, "Thank you."

"Is there anyway you could send me updated pictures or something?" I asked.

"Gabi you know we can do that," Nick said quietly, "We agreed on a closed adoption."

"I'm sorry Gabriella," Deanna said, "But we'll be coming up once a year to see my parents," Deanna went on, "So if we 'accidentally' bump into each other in the park or something come say hi."

I smiled and we shook hands.

"Thank you."

I took one more look at Alison before Nick led me out of the park and we started walking home.

A/N ok, sorry if this chapter seemed a little weird. It kinda tied up some questions that were asked about in the last few chapters. We're not sure when our next update will be but **REVIEWS** make them faster. Trust me they do! really! So we would really like to hear your thoughts about Alison and this new Claire character and of course Troy and Gabi's little break up!

**PLEASE REVIEW!!** _seriously it doesnt take that long! C:_


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31 Crappy Relationships**

**Nick's POV**

Rivi, Bobby, Feroce, Gabi, and I were sitting in my room. We were sitting in various places, just talking. Somehow the conversation ended up at crappy relationships.

"Yeah and we don't even need to go into Gabriella and Troy's mess," Feroce said.

"No we don't," Gabriella chimed in, "But I don't understand why he's being so stupid! I mean why won't he let me explain!?"

"Because he's a guy," Bobby said, "And he found out his girlfriend has a kid."

"Thanks for stating the obvious Bob!" I said mock-excited.

I noticed Gabriella manage a smile but she was still sad.

"Yeah Gab," Rivi said, "Troy's doing what every guy would do."

"But he'll come back," I promised, "I mean it's Troy 'The Good Guy' Bolton! And he loves you."

"Thanks guys," Gabriella said, "I just can't believe we broke up."

"Hey," Rivi said, "You're not the only one."

Bobby, Feroce, and Gabi all looked up at him quickly. They didn't know.

"What!?" Bobby said, "Who else?"

"I broke up with Tay," Rivi admitted staring at his feet, "I had too."

I looked at Gabi. There was a small smile on her face. She understood that Rivi had broken up with Taylor to free her. She belonged with Chad and everybody knew it. I looked at Bobby. He looked completely shocked. He didn't understand.

"Yeah well, me too," Feroce said, "Kelsi and I broke up."

Even I was shocked by this. We all stared at him, waiting for him to explain. He stared back.

"Well are you gonna tell us why?" Gabriella finally asked.

"Oh well I thought it was obvious," Feroce explained, "We didn't really talk or hang out. We were barely dating. We worked better as friends."  
"So," Rivi started, "We're all in the same boat."

"Except Nick," Gabriella brought up.

"Well he should be," Feroce added.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked defensively.

"It means...dump Claire!" Rivi exclaimed.

"Why should I do that?" I asked.

"Because man," Rivi went on, "You're dating a bitch and you're the only one who doesn't know it!"

I rolled my eyes. Why did he think that? Claire is not like that! She's pretty, funny, and nice! They were the ones who didn't know her!

"This," Bobby chimed in, "is why I avoid girls!"

We all couldn't help but to laugh.

"I got to go," Gabriella said standing up, "My show's going to be on soon!"

We all smiled at her and the guys said bye. She was already walking down the steps when I jumped up and followed her.

"Gabi hey!" I said as she opened the front door.

"Yeah?" she asked looking back at me.

"When you're show's over you should go talk to Troy."

She looked at me as if saying, 'Yeah right, Nick.'

"No," she said simply, "I want to make up with him but it's up to him. I'm not going to pressure him into listening and believing me. He can come to me."

I looked at her smiling, but didn't say anything.

"Bye Nick."

"Gabi," I stopped her from leaving again, "You know you could be waiting for a long time."

"I know Nick," she said quietly, "I'm prepared to wait as long as it takes."

She smiled before I finally let her walk out the door.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

I stood across the street from Gabriella's house. I was kind of lurking on the sidewalk. I glanced up at the windows and then to the door. I paced back and forth having a huge fight with myself.

Do I want to do this? That's what I couldn't decide.

No she would come to me.

I took two steps away and stopped.

But Gabriella wouldn't lie to me! There's no way she'd cheat on me! Gabriella was way to perfect to do something stupid like that. She deserves for me to listen to her. Yeah, all I have to do is listen.

I took a deep breath and started walking across the street. I was right in the middle when I stopped. I couldn't do it. I ran back to the sidewalk.

Why would the entire school lie? A rumor couldn't get that big! It had to be the truth or the whole entire school wouldn't believe it. There was nothing Gabriella could say to change the truth.

I started walking away from her house. This time I really wasn't going to stop, but when I felt my phone vibrate inside my pocket, I did.

I flipped open my phone and saw a text from Gabriella.

_It's too late! I already saw you out there. You can't escape now!!_

I actually found myself smiling. I stared over at her house and knew I couldn't ignore her.

I jogged across the street and the door opened as I walked up the steps.  
"Come on in," she said leading me to the living room.

"So," Gabriella breathed as we sat down on opposite couches, "You ready to listen?"

I just nodded slowly.

As Gabriella closed her eyes and took a deep breath I knew she remembered every detail.

"Well it was summer between 9th and 10th grade. Nick and I had gotten together and already everyone knew how much we cared about each other. So anyway it was a beginning of the summer party at Bobby's house. Every year he throws a crazy party and pretty much the entire school comes. Honestly Troy, it was a normal teen pregnancy situation. Somebody spiked the fruit punch. You know me Troy, I'm always thirsty! So without knowing it the whole party was getting drunk. I...I told Nick my head hurt from the loud music. I guess the headache wasn't from the music but at the time I didn't know I had consumed way too much alcohol. So Nick and I went upstairs where it was quiet and started making out and a couple days later I was nauseous."

Gabriella paused to take some more deep breaths. I could tell how shook up she was.

"So after 10th grade I had to move because my mom got transferred. I of course had already had my daughter in March of that school year. No one seemed to care at the time. I mean word came out that the punch was spiked. So anyway you probably want to know about the adoption. Well that was a decision made by Nick, Rivi, Feroce, Bobby, my mom, Nick's parents, and I. We were way to young, Troy, and we all knew it. I could never be a normal teenager and raise a kid. And I could never give my daughter a normal life. It wouldn't have been fair to any of us. And I mean Nick obviously wasn't ready to be a dad! It all made perfect sense in my head. But when I wasn't even given the chance to hold my daughter before they took her away, it seemed so wrong. I mean I had met the people who adopted her, but only briefly. So two months later my mom and I moved. Away from all of it. The people who knew, the pain of going to Bobby's room, away from Nick and into a new life. My mom told me to start over at Sun High. I didn't tell anyone. I never have until now. As soon as we got settled there, we moved again. I was still affected by the pain but with every new thing it got easier. So my mom and I ended up at this ski resort and I was forced to go this teen party. Before I knew it I was singing with _the_ hottest guy I had ever seen. He had the most amazing smile and an even better voice. And all of the sudden I had a completely new and different life. I had no reason to reveal and relive the pain of giving up my daughter to my new life."

Tears had been silently running down her face for the last few minutes. She hadn't been looking at me but I stared at her intently. I took in every detail of her story. It all made sense. I could understand why she wouldn't want to relive the pain, but I till couldn't understand why she hadn't told me when the girl came back.

"And Troy," she went on, "You know I would never cheat on you. I've never even thought about leaving you for Nick."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes. Gabriella wiping her tears and me thinking.

"So will you please stop hating me and take me back?" Gabriella blurted.

All I could do was stare straight down at my feet.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Nick's POV**

"Here we are," I said puling into the parking lot of a casual restaurant. I got out of my car and went to open the door for Claire.

"Thank you," she said in a cute voice.

I smiled and led her through the door and to a booth.

"So this is a West Side restaurant?" Claire asked sitting down.

"Yeah," I answered from across the table, "The guys, Gabriella, and I used to come here all the time."

"Oh."

I wasn't quite sure why she answered shortly. But I shrugged it of. I grabbed two menus and handed one to her.

We were finally ready to order and the waitress came over.

"I'll have the Italian hoagie," Claire said, "With extra bologna."

I ordered a meatball sub and the waitress walked away.

"So you like bologna?" I asked sipping on my drink.

"I love it!" she replied.

"Gabriella always ordered an Italian hoagie with no bologna," I smiled, "I thought it was funny."

"Yesterday I got caught in a rainstorm during my run," Claire told me, changing the subject shortly "I got _so _drenched."

"Oh man," I laughed, "One time Gabriella and I were in the park and it started pouring! It was sweet!"

"Sound fun," she said shortly.

A half hour later I was sitting back in the booth and Claire was setting down the last few bites of her sandwich.

"I just can't finish it," she said.

"Finally!" I burst.

"What?" she asked looking confused.

"Oh it's just that Gabriella could always eat more than Rivi and I and it was embarrassing!"

I started to laugh thinking of the memory.

"Ok! Why do you keep bringing her up!?" Claire exclaimed randomly.

I was taken back completely.

"What – what are you talking about?" I asked.

"This whole time you've been talking about things you and Gabriella did!" Claire said, "You're not on a date with Gabriella, you're on a date with me! Why do you even like that girl! She's a stupid brat who thinks she can control all the guys in the school!"

"Claire I...I," I started, "I didn't mean to be... And it's not that big of deal. Gabriella and I are friends. You've been talking about your friends too. It's not my fault that one of my best friends is a girl. And you don't even know Gabriella."

We silently paid and walked out to my car. Neither of us talked as we drove through town back towards Claire's house.

Why would she freak on me like that? She knows Gabriella is one of my best friends! How can she not like Gabi!? That's just ridiculous. I've never seen Claire get mad before.

After ten more minutes of silence I pulled over in front of Claire's house.

"See ya," I said shortly as she opened the car door.

"Nick," she whined, "Don't you wannna come in for a while? No one's home."

"Uh no thanks," I said, "I've got better things to do. Please close my door."

Her jaw dropped and she slammed the door.

I smiled at her obnoxiously and pull away.

**Author's Note.**

**Sorry it took so long! Please forgive me! Ha-ha. Well hope you enjoyed it, because now I have sad news. This is the second to last chapter of Class Act!! So please do me a huge favor! If you've been reviewing please do twice more! And if you haven't please just review twice for the last two chapters!! We were kind of hoping to hit 300! Well anyway, bye for now! **

_ok, so we basically wanted a person for nick to date that nobody liked.. and we thought we had some things planned that would be really great for the story... it seems that we just hated the girl we based the character off of and all of our ideas were pretty lame. We have nothing else for the story and we think this is a great place for only and ending chapter. We thought we were going to end this story on chapter 18... but that didn't happen! I'm really glad that we went on with the story, and i have to say this is one of my favorites! Please check out some of our other fanfictions I think most of you readers will really like them!! Thanks for hanging in with this story for so long! Please give us your veiws and comments!! Thanks again -shelby_


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32 Class Act**

**Gabriella's POV**

Troy stared straight ahead. I waited nervously for his answer. There was nothing else I could have said to make Troy understand. It was all up to him now. I became even more nervous as Troy slowly turned his head and stared into my eyes. A smile slowly started to spread across his face.

"Get over here."

I stayed rooted to the spot. Shock, excitement, and relief coursed through me.

"I need you," Troy went on.

I then realized that I had heard Troy right. I jumped off my couch and flew into his open arms. I buried my face into his neck as his strong arms wrapped around me.

"Oh god Troy," I mumbled, "Thank you."

"Hey!" he said pulling away to look in m face, "Don't thanks me. I was a jerk-"

"Troy!" she exclaimed cutting me off, "That's over. It's behind us! We forgive each other, we're sorry, blah blah blah!"

Troy grinned hugely and grabbed my hands.

"I love you Gabriella."

"I love you too."

"Why don't we celebrate?" Troy asked.

"How?" I questioned curiously.

"Let's invite all our friends to come over later and we'll all hang out," he suggested.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed way too happy.

"Sound good?" Troy asked laughing.

"But first," I started, "Let's go somewhere."

"Ok, where?" Troy asked still smiling.

"I don't care!" I exclaimed, "Anywhere! Just as long as we go together!"

"You're crazy," he laughed as I grabbed his hand and we ran outside.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Chad's POV**

I walked silently along the sidewalk staring at the ground. I was on my way to the basketball courts in the park. Jason, Feroce, and I were meeting there. I dribbled the ball I was carrying a few times and looked up. I was passing the ice cream shop we always go too. I instinctively glanced at the shop window. I looked away and had to double take. Taylor was handing the employee her money. I instantly started debating. Should I talk to her or not? I glanced around for any of are friends. Taylor was alone. I heard her thanking the employee and didn't have enough time to decide. I just stood staring with my back to the ice cream shop.

"Chad?"

Crap. I had been spotted. I quickly turned around trying to look surprised.

"Taylor!?" I exclaimed, "I didn't see you there...but you saw me."

What the heck did I just say??

"Uh yeah," Taylor said awkwardly, "You're kind of hard to miss."

"So," I said, "Where's Rivi?"

"Oh," Taylor said, "Um we broke up."

"I'm...I'm sorry," I said even more awkward, "That's sad."

"A little bit."

I quickly looked up at her in shock. Last time I checked Rivi and Taylor were great together. How could Taylor only be a 'little bit' sad that they broke up?

"What happened?"

"We kind of agreed to break up," she started not looking at me, "Rivi knew that I would be happier with someone else. So he ended it with me for my own good."

"So there's someone else?" I asked overwhelmed with sadness.

"Yeah," Taylor stated, "He plays basketball, has crazy curly hair, eats more than anyone I know, and has barely talked to me these last couple weeks."

A smile grew on my face as I caught on. Taylor stills cares about me.

"I've missed you," I admitted, "Nothing's been the same without you."

"I'm so sorry Chad," Taylor went on, "I didn't realize how much I cared about you until you were gone. I've missed you so much."

At the same time we walked towards each other. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. We clung to each other as she wrapped her arms around my waist. There we stood hugging desperately in the middle of the sidewalk.

**hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm**

**Troy's POV**

Almost all of us were gathered in my backyard. It was still light out but we had the bonfire in full blaze already. There were chairs set up and we had a bunch of snacks lying around. We were having fun just hanging out.

"Hey guys!" Nick walked into my backyard smiling.

We all shouted hey and he grabbed a seat. Chad was the only one not here.

"Chad's coming," Nick announced, "He stopped in the house for some reason."

"Party time!" Chad shouted flying out of my house.

We all laughed and greeted him before going back to our conversations. Nick had sat down by Gabriella and me and we were chatting.

"Look at Chad," Gabriella whispered.

We looked up to see him talking to Taylor.

We watched them talk for a minute then Chad leaned down and they kissed. Taylor smiled and they continued talking until Feroce interrupted.

"Did they get back together?" Nick asked.

"Looks like it," I stated.

"Thank gosh," Gabriella agreed.

Nick and I agreed.

"Guys!" Rivi shouted, "Basketball!"

We all instantly stood and ran to my court. We split into teams. Rivi, Chad, and Bobby, against Feroce, Nick, and I. A week ago these teams would never have worked. But all fighting and awkwardness was behind us now.

We played for a half hour and then it started getting dark. We went back over and joined the girls at the bonfire. We sat around happily talking, laughing, and being stupid.

"This is perfect isn't it?" Gabriella whispered in my ear.

I turned to her and grinned.

"Almost," I mumbled leaning towards her.

We began kissing and forgot everything else around us.

"Uncomfortable!" I heard someone far away singing.  
Gabriella and I slowly pulled apart and remembered where we were. All our friends were looking at us and cracking up. We sat back in our chairs and joined in laughing.

I looked around. I was with my girlfriend, best friends, and new friends. We were all together. At that moment I knew we'd all be together forever. We had gotten through all kinds of things. There was nothing else out there that could break us up. The ten of us really were a Class Act.

**Author's Note**

**WOW! 32 chapters later and you guys are still with me! I can't thank you enough! I just really hope that you've enjoyed this story! Please review one last time! I hope you liked this last fluff chapter...I'm a sucker for happy ending! Thanks! You guys are great!! we still want to reach a goal of 300 reviews so PLEASE REVIEW!!**

_so thats the end. im so sad!! i really love all these characters and i hate to see them go. So.. i have been thinking of some new ideas and stuff but i want you guys to answer some questions. _

_1. Do you want a sequal, maybe college? _

_2. What characters and pairings do you like? (Do you like our original characters like Nick and the gang?)_

_3. Do you have any ideas or plots you would like us to write about?_

_4. Did you like our story Class Act??_

_thanks everybody! i really love reading all the reviews and your comments on our story! please review and answer these questions, your answers will really help us! Thank you! -Shelby _


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